In an essay for the London Review of Books, Thomas Lacquer concluded that the American death penalty had little to do with punishment or justice. It simply failed to deliver on either count. Instead, he argued that a "primordial sacrificial logic" was at play. Like a scapegoat designated to carry away the sins of the many, killing those who commit atrocities reassures the community that the moral order is not fundamentally flawed. Capital punishment is a rite of purification.
The problem with capital punishment in the U.S. is that the appeals litigation continues for years usually. I'm ambivalent on the subject myself. On the one hand, it seems unjust that someone who takes a life should be allowed to live his own out. On the hand, as a Christian, I'm not sure it is wise to continue a practice that took the life of the Savior.
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