I Say, "Well Said, Senator Manny Pacquiao!"
Former Roman Catholic now born again Christian, Philippine Senator Manny Pacquiao, said that death penalty isn't personal but a social issue. The situation itself differentiates revenge and justice. Revenge is personal but justice is social. Somebody may say that the death penalty may not bring back the dead victims to life. I can agree on that one but here's the issue. Death penalty should be and is all about defending society from vile people. It's a deterrent to criminal acts.
Opponents of death penalty love to misquote Exodus 20:13 and forget the rest. The translation "kill" used is actually ratsach in that verse. The Bible which condemns murder also teaches that death penalty must be carried out. Some atheists say that it's negotiable. No, it's not negotiable. The same God who orders you not to commit murder orders you to execute people guilty of crimes against life doesn't contradict Himself. This also includes to false witnesses who could have put innocent people to death (Deuteronomy 24:7). To put such people to death is not about revenge but about making that the crime is discouraged.
Some people also just love to say, "But it's just in the Old Testament." never mind they tend to misquote from the Old Testament whenever it's convenient. The only policies gone in the Old Testament are the ceremonial and dietary laws. Christians are now free to eat bacon and shrimp as Acts 10:10-14 has God allowing Peter to eat anything that wasn't allowed in the Old Testament. The New Testament still gives governments the authority and duty to use the sword against evildoers (Romans 13:1-4). While this is no ground for the government to commit acts of genocide but they're given the duty to execute those who have committed crimes against life when they're confirmed guilty. The sword isn't used to plant onions or do gardening but used to defend society from evildoers. This also means law enforcers need their lethal weapons to defend themselves and others from criminals.
The hypocrisy of "pro-life" groups is also that some of them oppose death penalty but endorse abortion as "perfectly ethical". Roman Catholic "pro-life" groups may oppose both death penalty and abortion but only because it could condemn their sinister priests. Many Roman Catholic priests have a lot to answer for and many of them may end up on death row for sexual crimes. I don't care what the Pope says because his so-called papal infallibility is nothing more than a sham. The Pope's claim that he's preserved from doctrinal error is false because one Pope after the other contradicted Scripture. One Pope went for death penalty and another went against it. Pope Francis has zero right to say that death penalty should be abolished because God ordained it from the very start.
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