Religion and Capital Punishment

Term Paper # 100698

Hot Topics > Capital Punishment
Religion and Theology

An analysis of the close connection between religious belief and a belief in capital punishment.

1,244 words () | 4 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper examines the role of religion in shaping attitudes toward capital punishment. It looks at how different religious denominations take a different attitude toward the subject so that followers take their cues from that denomination, such as the current divide seen in America between many evangelical Protestant churches that support capital punishment and the Catholic Church that does not. It also discusses how, at a deeper level, support often hinges on the degree of reliance on the Bible as an unerring source, with those supporting capital punishment finding a direct admonition for capital punishment in scripture.

From the Paper:

"Robert L. Young more specifically looks at the way religious orientation and race produce certain levels of support for the death penalty. The researchers look at the 1988 General Social Survey showing that fundamentalism, evangelism, and devotionalism have significant by very different roles in shaping attitudes toward capital punishment. Young notes first that religion should have a role because religion deals at its most basic level with issues of life and death, including the question of the role of the state in taking a life. "

Sample of Sources Used:

Harries, Keith D. Regional Variations in Homicide, Capital
Punishment, and Perceived crime Severity in the United States." Geografiska Annaler, Series B, Human Geography, Volume 70, No. 3 (1988), 325-334.
Young, Robert L. "Religious Orientation, Race and Support for the Death Penalty." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 31, No. 1 (March 1992), 76-87.
Witte, John E. Jr. and Thomas C. Arthur. "The Three Uses of the Law: A Protestant Source of the Purposes of Criminal Punishment?" Journal of Law and Religion, Volume 10, No. 2 (1993-1994), 433-465.

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APA Citation:

Religion and Capital Punishment (2012, January 15). Retrieved February 13, 2012, from http://www.academon.com/Term-Paper-Religion-and-Capital-Punishment/100698