Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Thieving Magpie · 01-31-2003, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Koiyotnik
I thought I should just clarify something.

To all of you who are disagreeing with Thieving Magpie's statment:

I'm not sure many of you are aware of it, but Canada's prison/penal system works a bit differently from that of the US. The primary objective of our system is to rehabilitate. Crimes such as drug possession do not carry as much weight in Canada as they do in America. As far as I know, capital punishment does not exist in our system.

I just did a quick search, and found that it was abolished in 1976. (Source )

I'm not as well versed on the criminal system of Canada as some of my peers, but I can direct any specific questions to them, if you wish.

Thank you.. though the idea of reforming criminals is still key in America's system as well - in fact I think the idea of trying to reform people was originally begun by Puritans or Quakers who came to America in the 17th century.. before that time the penal system only concerned punishment. Jail is not punishment in the way that torture and mutilation is punishment. The comparison is not easily made in our society since we see such things as barbarous but it is important to know that if we just wanted to PUNISH someone, then we could do that, and release them the next day. If we wanted to REFORM them, it would take a lot of time - probably in a secluded place where they couldn't break the law any more.. hey, wait a minute!

Thieving Magpie · 01-31-2003, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by spurly
I'm one of those weird Christians who is against the death penalty. But I have a different reason than most. My idea is that we snuff the life out of someone, we are taking away any chance they might have to come to Christ and be saved. Thus, in a small sort of way we are condemning people for eternity.

Just my thoughts.

Kevin

Actually, Christians who are against the death penalty are not that 'weird' at all.. oddly enough, most Christians seem to take the sixth commandment literally. Crazy, I know, but... what else would you expect from those S.O.B's? Actually doing what God tells them.. preposterous!

View Poll Results: Which best fits your views on the death penalty?
I think the death penalty should be abolished.	61	62.89%
I generally disfavor the death penalty, but feel that it should remain an option in extreme cases; there is need for reform.	18	18.56%
I generally favor the death penalty, but the current system needs reform.	10	10.31%
I favor the death penalty, and do not think that it needs reform and/or think it should be expanded.	6	6.19%
I'm not sure, or I don't have an opinion.	2	2.06%
Voters: 97. You may not vote on this poll

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