DA wrote:
To ask an atheist to do something horrible requires you to convince that person to override their personal moral compass. To ask a religious person to do so only requires that you convince them that what you are asking is god's will. And it isn't possible for them to ask that god if the interpretation is correct.
Well said. There is also the point suggested by that argument that the old excuse---"The devil made me do it " has to be personally valid if that person believes in the personification of evil in supernatural form, or indeed if they believe in Evil as a force in the world. This allows someone to distance themselves from the consequences of their actions in a way not possible to those who feel that deeds and actions are our own responsibilities.
The issue of punishment or such crimes should carry some thought of rehabilitation but this is often not possible. Whist I agree that people whose actions are so foul and disgusting that they need punishment should receive it, I cannot be sure that such punishment is always going to lead to repentance or redemption. In fact I feel that punishment is often imposed to allow the victim to feel valued by their society. Having said that I think that it may in fact be a very good reason and a valid argument for punishment. However sometimes the mores of a society will differ from our own personal ideals, and this is often difficult for religious people (or , to be fair anyone with rigid rules of conduct) to understand. The prospect of rehabilitation of such sociopaths mentioned in the previous posts is always unlikely but I think that the possibility of it happening for me, negates the use of capital punishment for anyone. Punishing someone for murder by 'killing them back' is just revenge I think.
As for the atrocities of war-- well that has always been OK as long as your side wins. The other side are barbarians and butchers, and eventually get tried for war crimes!
