| The_Yoda said: I see several parallels. Many people find the death penalty hypocritical i.e. killing someone for killing someone else. Essentially this is how wars start and function. Could the death penalty not also be seen as a necessary evil. You don't have to wage war, you can choose to just let yourself be killed / conquered. You don't have to put someone to death, you can just let them live in prison. I'm just curious what others think. I'm not saying war is a good thing, I'm not saying the death penalty is a good thing. If there was anything in this thread I agreed with the most it would be : |
But there is a huge difference which (imo) invalidates any comparison. Death penalty is a penalty that replaces Life Without Parole. In both cases the person is removed from society and prevented from further commiting these crimes. War on the otherhand has little in the way of alternatives. Diplomatic action and economic sanctions are the first steps, but they do not really protect anyone and they certainly do not prevent anyone from taking action that will harm others. Because there is no equivalent to Life Without Parole for countries, you can't really compare war to the death penalty.
This is seen quite clearly when you compare "letting yourself be killed/conquered" to "life in prison", when the actual comparison would be to letting the criminal go free and turning a blind eye when they kill people or commit other crimes.
