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Notes -
There is always another option. No action is ever truly forced. We can take a life if it is right to do so, and if there doesn't seem to be a better way to actually handle the problem. Putting murderers in prison isn't actually a solution, as evidenced by all the murder in prison, and the murder committed by people released from prison, or escaped from prison. It's all tradeoffs made with imperfect information, there is no obvious right answer. Executing a person for murder or for other heinous crimes is not objectionable under a Christian framework; executions for lawbreaking were ordered by God himself. What execution doesn't do is clearly fulfill Christian obligations; if our society abolishes execution completely, that might well be morally acceptable to Christians, just as abolishing slavery was. Christianity demands neither.
The window though is incredibly small for execution. It must be directly related to preventing other crimes. It can be done to prevent the murder of another.
In the specific Desantis case he’s wanted to expand it to child molesters. And while I agree that’s a horrible crime it doesn’t fit any of the Christian dogmas for when it’s acceptable to execute someone. We have the means to put them in prison for life so they won’t hurt a child. Execution is just vengeance.
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