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The major world
religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...
s have taken varied positions on the morality of
capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...
and as such, they have historically impacted the way in which
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...
s handle such punishment practices. Although the viewpoints of some religions have changed over time, their influence on capital punishment generally depends on the existence of a religious moral code and how closely religion influences the government. Religious moral codes are often based on a body of teachings, such as the
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
or the
Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...
. Many
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
ic nations have governments that are directly run by the code of
Sharia law Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
. The
Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...
explicitly states that the taking of a life results in the taking of ones own. There are certain actions in Islam, such as
adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...
, that are recognized to result in the death penalty. However, not all Islamic nations have the death penalty, for example
Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...
is an Islamic abolitionist nation.
Tazir In Islamic Law, ''tazir'' (''ta'zeer'' or ''ta'zir'', ar, تعزير) refers to punishment for offenses at the discretion of the judge (Qadi) or ruler of the state.Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
has changed its perspective on the death penalty over time and different
Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...
s have different teachings on it. Many early Christians were strongly opposed to the death penalty and magistrates who enforced it could be
excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
. Attitudes gradually began to relax in the fifth century. In the thirteenth century,
Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, Dominican Order, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino, Italy, Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest who was an influential List of Catholic philo ...
argued that capital punishment was a form of " lawful slaying", which became the standard
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
teaching on the issue for centuries. During the
Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...
,
Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...
and
John Calvin John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...
defended the death penalty, but
Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
, Brethren, and
Mennonites Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
have opposed it since their founding. Since the
Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...
, the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
has generally opposed the death penalty and, in August 2018,
Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...
revised the
Catechism of the Catholic Church The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' ( la, Catechismus Catholicae Ecclesiae; commonly called the ''Catechism'' or the ''CCC'') is a catechism promulgated for the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II in 1992. It aims to summarize, in book ...
to explicitly condemn it in all cases, as an inadmissible attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
has a strong belief in compassion for the lives of others, as stated in the panca-sila (
five precepts The Five precepts ( sa, pañcaśīla, italic=yes; pi, pañcasīla, italic=yes) or five rules of training ( sa, pañcaśikṣapada, italic=yes; pi, pañcasikkhapada, italic=yes) is the most important system of morality for Buddhist lay peo ...
). There is an understanding of healing people who have committed crimes rather than retaliation against them. For these reasons, Buddhism has generally opposed the death penalty. China and Japan, both historically Buddhist countries, continue to practise the death penalty.
Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...
has a history of debate over the death penalty but it generally disagrees with the practice. Although the
Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
describes over 30 situations where the death penalty would be appropriate, there are many limitations that have made it difficult to implement. Since 1954, Israel has outlawed the use of the death penalty, except in cases of
genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the ...
and
treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
.
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
has historically not taken a stance on the death penalty and has little influence on the governments opinion of it, but India (an 80% Hindu nation) has the lowest rate of execution of any other country. This is likely due to the belief in
Ahimsa Ahimsa (, IAST: ''ahiṃsā'', ) is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to all living beings. It is a key virtue in most Indian religions: Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.Bajpai, Shiva (2011). The History of India � ...
, or non-violence, which became very apparent during Gandhi's time and was supported by India's ancient Buddhist emperor
Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...
, who is the only leader in the country's history to openly oppose the death penalty.


Baháʼí Faith

The
Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...
prescribes the death penalty, or life in prison, for murder and arson. Those punishments are intended for a future society and have never been implemented by Baháʼís. To dissuade others from comminiting such a crime again, Abdu’l-Bahá, a prominent religious figure in the Baha’i religion, conceded that society has a right of capital punishment if only for the ability to show others of its consequences and not for individual revenge. The
Universal House of Justice The Universal House of Justice ( fa, بیت‌العدل اعظم) is the nine-member supreme ruling body of the Baháʼí Faith. It was envisioned by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, as an institution that could legislate ...
is a democratically elected institution in the Baha’i faith and is a present representation of the laws of the Baha’i texts that promote a progress of societal peace. Details are left up to the supreme governing institution to clarify at some future date.


Buddhism

Although the death penalty is generally opposed in Buddhist nations, it is difficult to identify a specific Buddhist opinion on capital punishment because some countries that are majority Buddhist do not follow religious principles. Buddhist principles may not carry much weight, even in the case of a Buddhist ruler, because there is no direct effort of Buddhist followers to encourage pacifism in their country. The
five precepts The Five precepts ( sa, pañcaśīla, italic=yes; pi, pañcasīla, italic=yes) or five rules of training ( sa, pañcaśikṣapada, italic=yes; pi, pañcasikkhapada, italic=yes) is the most important system of morality for Buddhist lay peo ...
are not a divine order from god, they are merely a set of ethical guidelines to live by. For this reason, rulers do not necessarily have to worry about being punished by god for not following them, and some leaders may choose to simply ignore these guidelines when trying to run a country.


Buddhist opposition to capital punishment

The first of the
Five Precepts The Five precepts ( sa, pañcaśīla, italic=yes; pi, pañcasīla, italic=yes) or five rules of training ( sa, pañcaśikṣapada, italic=yes; pi, pañcasikkhapada, italic=yes) is the most important system of morality for Buddhist lay peo ...
(Panca-sila) is to abstain from destruction of life. Chapter 10 of the
Dhammapada The Dhammapada ( Pāli; sa, धर्मपद, Dharmapada) is a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form and one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures. The original version of the Dhammapada is in the Khuddak ...
states: :Everyone fears punishment; everyone fears death, just as you do. Therefore do not kill or cause to kill. Everyone fears punishment; everyone loves life, as you do. Therefore do not kill or cause to kill. This concept is meant to encourage compassion ( karuna) and that everyone has the opportunity to reach enlightenment. Buddhism retains the idea that all life should be valued and valuing the life of someone who does not necessarily value the life of others shows great compassion and non-violence (
ahimsa Ahimsa (, IAST: ''ahiṃsā'', ) is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to all living beings. It is a key virtue in most Indian religions: Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.Bajpai, Shiva (2011). The History of India � ...
). The concept of ahimsa also includes Karma, which recognizes that killing is an example of bad karma and that killing for revenge is seen as counterproductive. It is believed that even the lives of murderers have value. There is a strong focus on rehabilitation and killing people takes away their opportunity be helped. Killing for revenge is seen as counterproductive. Chapter 26, the final chapter of the Dhammapada, states, "Him I call a
brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...
who has put aside weapons and renounced violence toward all creatures. He neither kills nor helps others to kill." The story of the Jhanasanda-
Jataka The Jātakas (meaning "Birth Story", "related to a birth") are a voluminous body of literature native to India which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. According to Peter Skilling, this genre is ...
contains a similar message in talking about a prince who gets rid of all places of execution. Similarly, the Rajaparikatha-ratnamala contains advice given by the Buddhist Philosopher
Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...
and states that people should have compassion even for murderers and that banishment should be utilized as opposed to killing. This strong emphasis on compassion, in relation to capital punishment, is also evident in the story of Angulimala. Angulimala was a murderer that everyone in the village feared but despite this, the Buddha headed down the road to where Angulimata is rumored to live. Out of compassion, the Buddha finds him and teaches him how to be a monk. This exemplifies the Buddhist concept of rehabilitation, however, Angulimata had built up too much bad karma previously and died a painful death as a result. Historically, many Buddhist Kings in India did not impose the death penalty. They charged fines instead and cut off a hand at worst. Some people view this as surprising because many pre-modern societies used capital punishment often. Many places used banishment instead and sent murders off to mountains in the desert with just enough food to survive. Both the current
Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current D ...
and his immediate predecessor have openly opposed the death penalty. The previous Dalai Lama (1879-1933) abolished the death penalty in an attempt to reform Tibet's feudal system after he had previously avoided cases involving capital punishment because of his focus on being a religious figure.


Actions of Buddhist countries

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
,
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...
, and
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
all recognize Buddhism as a state religion and use a Buddhist approach to address the issue of capital punishment. Cambodia is the only nation to have officially outlawed the use of the death penalty, though neither Thailand nor Bhutan have utilized capital punishment in many years. Thailand is home to about 63 million people, 95% of these people follow
Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...
and it has become central to the culture and identity of Thailand. Thailand's war on drugs may potentially explain its current retention of the death penalty. The manufacture and distribution of drugs is considered an offense in which the death penalty is mandatory. There were no executions in Thailand, however, between the years of 1988-1995 and 2004–2007.
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
also recognizes Buddhism as its official state religion but appears to be moving toward an increase in its use of capital punishment. It is unclear, however, if this anything to do with its Buddhist beliefs. Unlike Thailand, Sri Lanka has had a long history of political and religious tension due to its history of being ruled by various countries. Its Buddhist influence was weakened by foreign rulers who believed in a suppression of Buddhist culture. A Buddhist monk was sentenced to death after his assassination of Prime Minister Bandaranaike in 1959 because he felt that he had not lived up to his political promises of promoting Buddhist culture within politics. There has not been an execution in Sri Lanka since 1977. Although it is
communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
,
Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist s ...
has a much less intense commitment to capital punishment than other nearby communist nations. This is likely due to the strong influence of Theravada Buddhism.
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
also has a strong Theravada Buddhism influence in its country and has not carried out any government ordered executions since 1989.


Christianity

Christian tradition from the
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...
have come to a range of conclusions about the permissibility and social value of capital punishment. While some Christians hold the view that a strict reading of certain texts forbids executions, other Christians point to various verses in the New Testament which seem to endorse the imposition of the death penalty. Many early Christians strongly opposed the death penalty. A
church order Church order is the systematically organized set of rules drawn up by a qualified body of a local church. P. Coertzen. ''Church and Order''. Belgium: Peeters. From the point of view of civil law, the ''church order'' can be described as the inter ...
from Rome dated to around 200 AD forbids any Christian magistrate from carrying out a death sentence under pain of
excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
. It was also forbidden for any Christian to accuse a person of a crime if that accusation might result in the person being put to death or beaten with lead-weighted leather thongs. In the fifth century, Christian attitudes towards the death penalty gradually became less stringent. In 405,
Pope Innocent I Pope Innocent I ( la, Innocentius I) was the bishop of Rome from 401 to his death on 12 March 417. From the beginning of his papacy, he was seen as the general arbitrator of ecclesiastical disputes in both the East and the West. He confirmed the ...
ruled that magistrates who enforced the death penalty could not be excommunicated, although the custom was probably still regarded as immoral.


Roman Catholic Church

Historically and traditionally, the
Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...
has classified capital punishment as a form of "lawful slaying", a view which was defended by theological authorities such as
Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, Dominican Order, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino, Italy, Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest who was an influential List of Catholic philo ...
. ''(See also Aquinas on the death penalty)''. At various times in the past, the Church has held the view that, in certain cases, a legal system may be justified in levying a death sentence, such as in cases where the sentence may deter crime, may protect society from potential future acts of violence by an offender, may bring retribution for an offender's wrongful acts, and may even help the offender to move closer to reconciliation with God in the face of death. The 1566
Roman Catechism The Roman Catechism or Catechism of the Council of Trent is a compendium of Catholic doctrine commissioned during the Counter-Reformation by the Council of Trent, to expound doctrine and to improve the theological understanding of the clergy. ...
states this teaching thus:
Another kind of lawful slaying belongs to the civil authorities, to whom is entrusted power of life and death, by the legal and judicious exercise of which they punish the guilty and protect the innocent. The just use of this power, far from involving the crime of murder, is an act of paramount obedience to this Commandment which prohibits murder. The end of the Commandment is the preservation and security of human life. Now the punishments inflicted by the civil authority, which are the legitimate avengers of crime, naturally tend to this end, since they give security to life by repressing outrage and violence. Hence these words of David: ''In the morning I put to death all the wicked of the land, that I might cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord''.
This teaching was evident in the writings of
Pope Innocent I Pope Innocent I ( la, Innocentius I) was the bishop of Rome from 401 to his death on 12 March 417. From the beginning of his papacy, he was seen as the general arbitrator of ecclesiastical disputes in both the East and the West. He confirmed the ...
and
Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 ...
, with the latter stating that "the secular power can without mortal sin carry out a sentence of death, provided it proceeds in imposing the penalty not from hatred but with judgment, not carelessly but with due solicitude." More recently, the 1911 edition of the
Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...
suggested that Catholics should hold that "the infliction of capital punishment is not contrary to the teaching of the Catholic Church, and the power of the State to visit upon culprits the penalty of death derives much authority from revelation and from the writings of theologians", but that the matter of "the advisability of exercising that power is, of course, an affair to be determined upon other and various considerations." In an address given on 14 September 1952,
Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...
stated that the Church does not regard the execution of criminals as a violation by the State of the universal right to life, declaring: "When it is a question of the execution of a condemned man, the State does not dispose of the individual's right to life. In this case it is reserved to the public power to deprive the condemned person of the enjoyment of life in expiation of his crime when, by his crime, he has already disposed himself of his right to live.” In the late twentieth century, however, the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
began to generally move away from condoning the death penalty and instead began to increasingly adopt a more disapproving stance on the issue. Many modern Church figures such as
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
,Papal encyclical, Evangelium Vitae
25 March 1995
Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...
, and the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...
have actively discouraged the death penalty or advocated its outright abolition. For example, in his 1995
Evangelium Vitae ''Evangelium vitae'' () translated in English to "The Gospel of Life", is a papal encyclical promulgated on 25 March 1995 by Pope John Paul II. It deals with issues pertaining to the sanctity of human life, including murder, abortion, euthana ...
, Pope John Paul II suggested that capital punishment should be avoided unless it is the only way to defend society from the offender in question, opining that:
e nature and extent of the punishment must be carefully evaluated and decided upon, and ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today however, as a result of steady improvements in the organisation of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent."
The 1999 edition of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' ( la, Catechismus Catholicae Ecclesiae; commonly called the ''Catechism'' or the ''CCC'') is a catechism promulgated for the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II in 1992. It aims to summarize, in book ...
restated this view, and further stated that:
Assuming that the guilty party’s identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor. If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.
However, in 2004, Cardinal Ratzinger (later
Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...
) suggested that the assessment of the contemporary situation advanced by John Paul II was not necessarily binding on the faithful, arguing that:
if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father (i.e., the Pope) on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.
Some Catholic writers, such as the late Cardinal Joseph Bernadin of Chicago, have argued against the use of the death penalty in modern times by drawing on a stance labelled the "
consistent life ethic The consistent life ethic, also known as the consistent ethic of life or whole life ethic, is an ideology that opposes abortion, capital punishment, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. Adherents oppose war, or at the very least, unjust war; some adh ...
". Characteristic of this approach is an emphasis on the sanctity of human life, and the responsibility on both a personal and social level to protect and preserve life from "
womb The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', plural ''uteri'') or womb () is the organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans that accommodates the embryonic and fetal development of one or more embryos until birth. The ut ...
to
tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...
" ( conception to natural death). This position draws on the conviction that God has "boundless love for every person, regardless of human merit or worthiness." Other Catholic writers, such as
Joseph Sobran Michael Joseph Sobran Jr. (; February 23, 1946 – September 30, 2010) was a paleoconservative American journalist. He wrote for the ''National Review'' magazine and was a syndicated columnist. During the 1970s, he frequently used the bylin ...
and Matt Abbott, have criticised this approach, contending that it minimises the issue of abortion by placing it on the same level as the death penalty – the latter of which the Church does not consider intrinsically immoral. In 2015,
Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...
stated in an address to the International Commission against the Death Penalty that: "Today the death penalty is inadmissible, no matter how serious the crime committed." Francis argued that the death penalty is no longer justified by a society's need to defend itself and has lost all legitimacy due to the possibility of
judicial error ''Judicial Error'' (French: ''Erreur judiciaire'') is a 1948 French drama film directed by Maurice de Canonge and starring Michèle Alfa, Jimmy Gaillard and Lucienne Le Marchand.Bessy, Maurice & Chirat, Raymond. ''Histoire du cinéma français: ...
. He further stated that capital punishment is an offense "against the inviolability of life and the dignity of the human person, which contradicts God's plan for man and society" and "does not render justice to the victims, but rather fosters vengeance." In the address, Francis further explained:
In certain circumstances, when hostilities are underway, a measured reaction is necessary in order to prevent the aggressor from causing harm, and the need to neutralize the aggressor may result in his elimination; it is a case of legitimate defence (cf. Evangelium Vitae, n. 55). Nevertheless, the prerequisites of legitimate personal defence are not applicable in the social sphere without the risk of distortion. In fact, when the death penalty is applied, people are killed not for current acts of aggression, but for offences committed in the past. Moreover, it is applied to people whose capacity to cause harm is not current, but has already been neutralized, and who are deprived of their freedom. .. For a constitutional State the death penalty represents a failure, because it obliges the State to kill in the name of justice ..Justice is never reached by killing a human being. ..The death penalty loses all legitimacy due to the defective selectivity of the criminal justice system and in the face of the possibility of judicial error. Human justice is imperfect, and the failure to recognize its fallibility can transform it into a source of injustice. With the application of capital punishment, the person sentenced is denied the possibility to make amends or to repent of the harm done; the possibility of
confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...
, with which man expresses his inner conversion; and of
contrition In Christianity, contrition or contriteness (, i.e. crushed by guilt) is repentance for sins one has committed. The remorseful person is said to be ''contrite''. A central concept in much of Christianity, contrition is regarded as the first st ...
, the means of
repentance Repentance is reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs, which is accompanied by commitment to and actual actions that show and prove a change for the better. In modern times, it is generally seen as involving a co ...
and atonement, in order to reach the encounter with the merciful and healing love of God. Furthermore, capital punishment is a frequent practice to which
totalitarian Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...
regimes and fanatical groups resort, for the extermination of political dissidents, minorities, and every individual labelled as “dangerous” or who might be perceived as a threat to their power or to the attainment of their objectives. As in the first centuries and also in the current one, the Church suffers from the application of this penalty to her new martyrs. The death penalty is contrary to the meaning of '' humanitas'' and to divine
mercy Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French ''merci'', from Medieval Latin ''merced-'', ''merces'', from Latin, "price paid, wages", from ''merc-'', ''merxi'' "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, relig ...
, which must be models for human justice. It entails cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, as is the anguish before the moment of execution and the terrible suspense between the issuing of the sentence and the execution of the penalty, a form of “torture” which, in the name of correct procedure, tends to last many years, and which oftentimes leads to illness and insanity on death row.
Shortly prior to Francis's address, the Vatican had officially given support to a 2015
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
campaign against the death penalty. During a U.N. Human Rights Council meeting concerning the abolishment of capital punishment,
Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...
Silvano Tomasi Silvano Maria Tomasi C.S. (born 12 October 1940) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as the Special Delegate to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta since 1 November 2020. He was the Permanent Observer of the Holy See ...
declared that "The
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
Delegation fully supports the efforts to abolish the use of the death penalty." The Archbishop stated:
Considering the practical circumstances found in most States ... it appears evident nowadays that means other than the death penalty 'are sufficient to defend human lives against an aggressor and to protect public order and the safety of persons ..We should take into account that no clear positive effect of deterrence results from the application of the death penalty and that the irreversibility of this punishment does not allow for eventual corrections in the case of wrongful convictions.
On 2 August 2018, Pope Francis changed Catechism of the Catholic Church 2267 to the following: :Recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good. :Today, however, there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. In addition, a new understanding has emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state. Lastly, more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption. :Consequently, the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person”, and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide”.


Eastern Orthodox

Various Eastern Orthodox churches have issued statements opposing capital punishment, including the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Church in America, the Greek Orthodox Church, and the Georgian Orthodox Church.


Coptic Orthodox

The Coptic Orthodox Church approves of fair capital punishment. They believe that the new testament has spoken about grace, love and justice, while at the same time suggesting that capital punishment is justifiable as God's justice for people who take the life of others.


Methodists

In 1956, the
United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelica ...
was one of the first Protestant Christian denomination to make a statement opposing capital punishment. At the United Methodist General Council, church leaders released a statement saying, "We stand for the application of the redemptive principle to the treatment of offenders against the law, to reform of penal and correctional methods, and to criminal court procedures. We deplore the use of capital punishment." The church stands by this statement today.


The Salvation Army

In the positional statement, it states that The Salvation Army does not support death penalty:


Anglican and Episcopalian

Article 37 of the
Thirty-Nine Articles The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles) are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the ...
states that The
Lambeth Conference The Lambeth Conference is a decennial assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first such conference took place at Lambeth in 1867. As the Anglican Communion is an international association ...
of Anglican and Episcopalian bishops condemned the death penalty in 1988: Before that date, Anglican Bishops in the House of Lords had tended to vote in favour of the retention of capital punishment.


The Southern Baptist Convention

In 2000 the
Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wor ...
updated
Baptist Faith and Message The Baptist Faith and Message (BF&M) is the statement of faith of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). It summarizes key Southern Baptist thought in the areas of the Bible and its authority, the nature of God as expressed by the Trinity, the spi ...
. In it the convention officially sanctioned the use of capital punishment by the State. This was an extension of earlier church sentiment. It said that it is the duty of the state to execute those who are guilty of murder and God established capital punishment in the Noahic Covenant (Genesis 9:6).


Other Protestants

Early in the
Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...
, several of its key leaders, including
Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...
and
John Calvin John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...
, followed the traditional reasoning in favour of capital punishment, and the
Lutheran Church Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
's
Augsburg Confession The Augsburg Confession, also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant Re ...
explicitly defended it. Some Protestant groups have cited Genesis 9:5–6, Romans 13:3–4, and Leviticus 20:1–27 as the basis for permitting the death penalty. However,
Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...
thought it was wrong to use the death penalty against heretics. This was one of the specific issues he was asked to recant on in 1520 and excommunicated when he did not in 1521. Furthermore, some verses can be cited where Jesus seems to be a legalist by advocating respect for religious and civil laws: Matthew 5:17-22, 22:17-21 (the famous phrase ″Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's″, separating religion and civil law) and John 8:10-11.
Mennonites Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
,
Church of the Brethren The Church of the Brethren is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren (german: link=no, Schwarzenauer Neutäufer "Schwarzenau New Baptists") tradition that was organized in 1708 by Alexander Mack in Schwarzenau, Germ ...
and
Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Li ...
have opposed the death penalty since their founding, and continue to be strongly opposed to it today. These groups, along with other Christians opposed to capital punishment, have cited
Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...
's
Sermon on the Mount The Sermon on the Mount ( anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It ...
(transcribed in Matthew Chapter 5–7) and
Sermon on the Plain A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. ...
(transcribed in Luke 6:17–49). In both sermons, Christ tells his followers to
turn the other cheek Turn may refer to: Arts and entertainment Dance and sports * Turn (dance and gymnastics), rotation of the body * Turn (swimming), reversing direction at the end of a pool * Turn (professional wrestling), a transition between face and heel * Tur ...
and to love their enemies, which these groups believe mandates
nonviolence Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
, including opposition to the death penalty.


Mormonism

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
(LDS Church) presently takes no position on capital punishment. There are statements from church officials on
blood atonement Blood atonement is a disputed doctrine in the history of Mormonism, under which the atonement of Jesus does not redeem an eternal sin. To atone for an eternal sin, the sinner should be killed in a way that allows his blood to be shed upon the gr ...
. This belief held that the blood of
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...
'
Atonement Atonement (also atoning, to atone) is the concept of a person taking action to correct previous wrongdoing on their part, either through direct action to undo the consequences of that act, equivalent action to do good for others, or some other ...
could not remit certain serious sins, and that the only way a Mormon sinner could pay for committing such sins would be to have his own blood spilled on the ground as an
atonement Atonement (also atoning, to atone) is the concept of a person taking action to correct previous wrongdoing on their part, either through direct action to undo the consequences of that act, equivalent action to do good for others, or some other ...
. This doctrine was never held by the church or practised by clergy in their official capacity. The doctrine has no relation as to the reason why, until recently,
Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...
gave convicts sentenced to death a choice to be
executed by firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are us ...
rather than other methods such as
lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...
. This issue received significant public attention when
Ronnie Lee Gardner Ronnie Lee Gardner (January 16, 1961 – June 18, 2010) was an American criminal who received the death penalty for killing a man during an attempted escape from a courthouse in 1985, and was executed by a firing squad by the state of Utah in 20 ...
, who was convicted of robbery, murder, and escaping from jail, chose to die by firing squad, citing the blood atonement as the reason for his decision. On the night of Ronnie's execution, the LDS Church released a statement that it did not support blood atonement of individuals as a doctrine of salvation.


Islam

Many Islamic governments support capital punishment. Many Islamic nations have governments that are directly run by the code of
Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
and, therefore, Islam is the only known religion which has a direct impact on governmental policies with regard to capital punishment in modern times. Islamic law is often used in the court system of many Islamic countries where there is no
separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular s ...
. The
Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , ...
is viewed as the direct word of
Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", a ...
and going against its teachings is seen as going against the whole basis of the law. The Quran states "Do not kill a soul which
Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", a ...
has made sacred except through the process of due law," which means that the death penalty is allowed in certain cases where the law says it is necessary. The Quran explicitly states that the taking of a life results in the taking of ones own. According to the Quran, the death penalty is recognized as a necessary form of punishment for some "
Hudud ''Hudud'' (Arabic: ''Ḥudūd'', also transliterated ''hadud'', ''hudood''; plural of ''hadd'', ) is an Arabic word meaning "borders, boundaries, limits". In the religion of Islam it refers to punishments that under Islamic law (sharīʿah) are ...
" crimes in Islam because it is believed that these acts go directly against the word of god and are seen as a threat to society. However, in pre-modern Islam, capital punishments for these crimes were rarely enforced because the evidentiary standards were so high as to make convictions more difficult to obtain.
Wael Hallaq Wael B. Hallaq is the Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, where he has been teaching ethics, law, and political thought since 2009. He is considered a leading scholar in the field of Islamic legal studies, and has ...
(2009), ''An introduction to Islamic law'', p.173.
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pr ...
. .
At times the enforcement of these laws by modern Islamic governments has been a source of minor controversy within Muslim communities.


Islamic nations

Islamic nations generally agree that the death penalty should be retained but they differ on how to impose it, which indicates that there is still disagreement on the issue even within the religion of Islam.
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
, for example, are very open about their frequent imposition of the death penalty, while the Islamic nation of
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
only imposes it in extremely rare cases.
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
imposes the death penalty on those who are under the age of eighteen, while
Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...
has taken a stand against the imposition of the death penalty on minors. Exceptionally,
Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...
is an Islamic nation which prohibits the death penalty in all situations. Although formerly under France and French law, the French ''code penal'' still imposed the death penalty for several offences upon Djibouti independence in June 1977. The UN has voiced concern about the sudden increase in death sentences in Iran since 2014. Although Iran has been called upon to stop utilizing the death penalty so frequently multiple times, a total of 625 executions were carried out in 2013 alone. Many of these executions were for drug related crimes, "enmity against god", and threatening national security. In a controversial case, an Iranian woman named Reyhaneh Jabbari was hanged in
Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
in October 2014 for the murder of a man who she claimed attempted to
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...
her. Her sentence was supported by the concept of
qisas ''Qisas'' or ''Qiṣāṣ'' ( ar, قِصَاص, Qiṣāṣ, lit=accountability, following up after, pursuing or prosecuting) is an Islamic term interpreted to mean "retaliation in kind",Mohamed S. El-Awa (1993), Punishment In Islamic Law, Amer ...
which is found in the Quran. The term qisas is translated as "equality in retaliation," meaning that any injury inflicted on another should be compensated for by punishing the perpetrator with the same injury.


Fatwas and Jihad

A
fatwa A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist ...
is translated as a legal ruling that is issued by an Islamic legal expert that addresses the allowance or prohibition of a certain act. Fatwas promoting violence, in which the government allows an individual or a group of people to kill, is found only in Islam. Some fatwas are based on the concept of
jihad Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with G ...
, which is defined by
radicals Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...
as a military conflict that must be waged on an individual basis by all healthy adult males. This idea becomes relevant in military struggles between Muslims and non-believers in which Muslims are not permitted to flee. The necessity to fight is viewed as an act of faith to
Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", a ...
and those who remain loyal to Allah are rewarded. Ancient Islamic law lays out 36 conditions under which jihads can be waged and around 10-14 of those 36 conditions are military related. Other forms of jihad include personal struggles with the evil implications of ones soul or wealth. Current military motivations for Jihad might originate with the idea that Islam can only be spread through violence although the modern world includes other methods by which Islam can be spread such as the
mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit informati ...
and the
internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...
Traditionally, fatwas must identify the legal problem which is being addressed, consider other rulings regarding the issue, and lay out a clear guidelines on how to solve the problem. Fatwas need to be based on many sources such as the
Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...
, the
sunnah In Islam, , also spelled ( ar, سنة), are the traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time evidently saw and followed and passed ...
, logical analogies, public interest, and necessity. Questions have been raised about a Muslim who follows a fatwa that causes him to sin, particularly in cases of violence. This falls back on the
cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
who issued the fatwa and the person who committed the potential crime. This has led to radical interpretations that legitimize killing in order to fulfill a fatwa. An example of this includes
Islamic terrorism Islamic terrorism (also known as Islamist terrorism or radical Islamic terrorism) refers to terrorist acts with religious motivations carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists. Incidents and fatalities ...
which is based on the belief that "the meaning of jihad is to strive to liberate Muslim lands from the grip of
kuffar Kafir ( ar, كافر '; plural ', ' or '; feminine '; feminine plural ' or ') is an Arabic and Islamic term which, in the Islamic tradition, refers to a person who disbelieves in God as per Islam, or denies his authority, or rejects ...
s who usurped them and imposed their own laws on them instead of the laws of Allah." Fatwas have been issued against the
West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
by radicals within the
Muslim community ' (; ar, أمة ) is an Arabic word meaning "community". It is distinguished from ' ( ), which means a nation with common ancestry or geography. Thus, it can be said to be a supra-national community with a common history. It is a synonym for ' ...
who claim that the West's governments practice heresy and world domination. An example of this is the fatwa issued by Sheikh Abdallah 'Azzam who called for an ongoing jihad "until all of mankind worships Allah." This resulted in a fatwa which ruled that the killing of all non-believers was a duty that must be fulfilled by all Muslims as a response to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Another example is a fatwa which the Well-known Islamic religious leader
Yusuf al-Qaradawi Yusuf al-Qaradawi ( ar, يوسف القرضاوي, translit=Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī; or ''Yusuf al-Qardawi''; 9 September 1926 – 26 September 2022) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar based in Doha, Qatar, and chairman of the International Union of ...
issued against the
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
n
dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in time ...
Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by '' The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
in February 2011. In his fatwa which he issued on
Al-Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
television, he stated that "whoever in the Libyan army is able to shoot a bullet at Mr Gaddafi should do so".


Judaism

The teachings of
Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...
support the imposition of the death penalty in principle but the standard of proof which is required for the imposition of the death penalty is extremely stringent, and in practice, it has been abolished by various
Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
ic decisions, making the situations in which a death sentence can be imposed effectively impossible and hypothetical. "Forty years before the destruction" of the
Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jeru ...
in 70 CE, i.e. in 30 CE, the
Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin ( Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , '' synedrion'', 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as " rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temp ...
effectively abolished capital punishment, making it a hypothetical upper limit on the severity of punishment, fitting in finality for God alone to use, not fallible humans. Even though Judaism allows the death penalty to be imposed in some hypothetical circumstances, scholars of
Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...
broadly oppose the death penalty as it is imposed in the modern world. The Jewish understanding of Biblical law is not based on a literal reading of the Bible, instead, it is seen through the lens of Judaism's
oral law An oral law is a code of conduct in use in a given culture, religion or community application, by which a body of rules of human behaviour is transmitted by oral tradition and effectively respected, or the single rule that is orally transmitted. M ...
. These oral laws were first recorded in the
Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Tor ...
in around 200 CE and later, in around 600 CE, they were recorded in the Babylonian
Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
. The laws clearly state that the death penalty was rarely imposed. The Mishnah states: :A
Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin ( Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , '' synedrion'', 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as " rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temp ...
that puts a man to death once in seven years is called destructive. Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah says: a Sanhedrin that puts a man to death even once in seventy years. Rabbi Akiba and Rabbi Tarfon say: Had we been in the Sanhedrin none would ever have been put to death. Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel says: they would have multiplied shedders of blood in Israel. (Mishnah, Makkot 1:10). Rabbinic tradition describes a detailed system of checks and balances which exists in order to prevent the execution of an innocent person. These rules are so restrictive as to effectively legislate the penalty out of existence. The law requires that: *There must have been two witnesses to the crime, and these must conform to a prescribed list of criteria. For example, females and close relatives of the criminal are precluded from being witnesses according to Biblical law, while full-time gamblers are precluded as a matter of rabbinical law. *The witnesses must have verbally warned the person seconds before the act that they were liable for the death penalty *The person must then have verbally acknowledged that he or she was warned and that the warning would be disregarded, and then have gone ahead and committed the sin. *No individual was allowed to testify against him or herself. The 12th-century Jewish legal scholar
Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...
famously stated that "It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death." Maimonides argued that executing a defendant on anything less than absolute certainty would lead to a slippery slope of decreasing burdens of proof, until we would be convicting merely "according to the judge's caprice." Maimonides was concerned about the need for the law to guard itself in public perceptions, to preserve its majesty and retain the people's respect. On the other hand, he allowed for the possibility of imposing capital punishment on circumstantial evidence alone when warranted Today, the
State of Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
only uses the death penalty for extraordinary crimes, and only two people have ever been executed in Israel's history. The only civil execution ever to take place in Israel was of convicted
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
war criminal
Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann"
'' Meir Tobianski Meir Tobianski ( he, מאיר טוביאנסקי, also ''Tubianski''; 20 May 1904 – 30 June 1948) was an officer in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who was executed as a traitor on circumstantial evidence on the orders of Isser Be'eri, the fir ...
, an army major court-martialled and convicted of treason during the
1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form Britis ...
, and posthumously exonerated. However, Israeli employment of the death penalty has little to do with Jewish law.


Orthodox Judaism

In
Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses o ...
it is held that in theory the death penalty is a correct and just punishment for some crimes. However, in practice the application of such a punishment can only be carried out by humans whose system of justice is nearly perfect, a situation which has not existed for some time. Orthodox
Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...
Yosef Edelstein writes :"So, at least theoretically, the Torah can be said to be pro-capital punishment. It is not morally wrong, in absolute terms, to put a murderer to death ...However, things look rather different when we turn our attention to the practical realisation of this seemingly harsh legislation. You may be aware that it was exceedingly difficult, in practice, to carry out the death penalty in Jewish society ...I think it's clear that with regard to Jewish jurisprudence, the capital punishment outlined by the Written and Oral Torah, and as carried out by the greatest Sages from among our people (who were paragons of humility and humanity and not just scholarship, needless to say), did not remotely resemble the death penalty in modern America (or Texas). In theory, capital punishment is kosher; it's morally right, in the Torah's eyes. But we have seen that there was great concern—expressed both in the legislation of the Torah, and in the sentiments of some of our great Sages—regarding its practical implementation. It was carried out in ancient Israel, but only with great difficulty. Once in seven years; not 135 in five and a half." ( Rabbi Yosef Edelstein, Director of the Savannah Kollel) Orthodox Rabbi
Aryeh Kaplan Aryeh Moshe Eliyahu Kaplan ( he, אריה משה אליהו קפלן; October 23, 1934 – January 28, 1983) was an American Orthodox rabbi, author, and translator, best known for his Living Torah edition of the Torah. He became well known as ...
writes: :"In practice, however, these punishments were almost never invoked, and existed mainly as a deterrent and to indicate the seriousness of the sins for which they were prescribed. The rules of evidence and other safeguards that the Torah provides to protect the accused made it all but impossible to actually invoke these penalties...the system of judicial punishments could become brutal and barbaric unless administered in an atmosphere of the highest morality and piety. When these standards declined among the Jewish people, the Sanhedrin...voluntarily abolished this system of penalties" ( Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan in ''Handbook of Jewish Thought'', Volume II, pp. 170–71). On the other hand, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, in a letter to then New York Governor Hugh Carey states: "One who murders because the prohibition to kill is meaningless to him and he is especially cruel, and so too when murderers and evil people proliferate they he courtswould hould?judge apital punishmentto repair the issue ndto prevent murder – for this ction of the courtsaves the state."


Conservative Judaism

In
Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generati ...
the death penalty was the subject of a
responsum ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...
by its
Committee on Jewish Law and Standards The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is the central authority on halakha (Jewish law and tradition) within Conservative Judaism; it is one of the most active and widely known committees on the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly. With ...
: :"The Talmud ruled out the admissibility of circumstantial evidence in cases which involved a capital crime. Two witnesses were required to testify that they saw the action with their own eyes. A man could not be found guilty of a capital crime through his own confession or through the testimony of immediate members of his family. The rabbis demanded a condition of cool premeditation in the act of crime before they would sanction the death penalty; the specific test on which they insisted was that the criminal be warned prior to the crime, and that the criminal indicate by responding to the warning, that he is fully aware of his deed, but that he is determined to go through with it. In effect this did away with the application of the death penalty. The rabbis were aware of this, and they declared openly that they found capital punishment repugnant to them... There is another reason which argues for the abolition of capital punishment. It is the fact of human fallibility. Too often we learn of people who were convicted of crimes and only later are new facts uncovered by which their innocence is established. The doors of the jail can be opened, in such cases we can partially undo the injustice. But the dead cannot be brought back to life again. We regard all forms of capital punishment as barbaric and obsolete..."


Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous sear ...
has formally opposed the death penalty since 1959, when the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the
Union for Reform Judaism The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) until 2003, founded in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the congregational arm of Reform Judaism in North America. The other two arms establishe ...
) resolved “that in the light of modern scientific knowledge and concepts of humanity, the resort to or continuation of capital punishment either by a state or by the national government is no longer morally justifiable.” The resolution goes on to say that the death penalty “lies as a stain upon civilization and our religious conscience.” In 1979, the
Central Conference of American Rabbis The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada. The CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the worl ...
, the professional arm of the Reform rabbinate, resolved that, “both in concept and in practice, Jewish tradition found capital punishment repugnant” and there is no persuasive evidence “that capital punishment serves as a deterrent to crime.”


Hinduism

Even though
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
has historically not taken a stance on the death penalty and it has little influence on the Indian governments opinion of it,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
(an 80% Hindu nation) has the lowest rate of
execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...
of any other country. A basis can be found in
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
teachings, such as the Mahabharata, for opposing the death penalty, even though it has historically been implemented by Hindu leaders. Hinduism preaches ''
ahimsa Ahimsa (, IAST: ''ahiṃsā'', ) is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to all living beings. It is a key virtue in most Indian religions: Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.Bajpai, Shiva (2011). The History of India � ...
'' (or ''ahinsa'', non-violence), but also teaches that the soul cannot be killed and death is limited only to the physical body, explaining the difficulty in choosing an exact position on capital punishment. Hinduism's belief that life in this world is more of an illusion greatly decreases the religious impact on governments in majority Hindu nations. Use of the death penalty has not faced much opposition by Indian citizens historically, with the exception of some recent backlash. Hinduism's belief in karma may explain why there is no strong support or opposition to capital punishment because it is believed that if someone commits a crime in this life, they will pay for it in another life. It is also believed that the soul comes back many times after death to be purified by good karma and a persons destiny determines when they die.


Evidence in support of the death penalty

Historically, The Laws of Manu, or manusmriti, state that the king should be the one to decide on appropriate punishments. The king has the right to do whatever needs to be done in order to protect his people. He is given the right to punish criminals by placing them in shackles, imprisoning them, or sentencing them to death. It was observed in the 5th century that death sentences were related to caste. For example, If a Shudra, Sudra insulted a priest they were sentenced to death but if a priest were to kill a sudra it was the equivalent of killing a dog or a cat and their only punishment would be to pay a fine. Other crimes worthy of capital or corporal punishment, according to the Laws of Manu, include when a lower caste man makes love to a woman of the highest caste, a Sudra slandering a Kshatriya, when men and women are stolen from the most noble family, and when a woman is violated without consent. With a history of rulers who favored capital punishment, Ashoka is the only known ruler to openly oppose its use. In the 1980s parliament expanded punishment by death to offenses such as terrorism and kidnapping for ransom. This decision was supported by the public and a survey conducted in the 1980s solidified this support in finding that teachers, doctors, and lawyers all favored the death penalty. Currently, the Indian Penal Code (IPC) recognizes legitimacy of the death penalty in cases of murder, waging war against the government, encouraging suicide, fabricating false evidence, kidnapping, and murder as part of a robbery. Today, It is common to find people in support of the death penalty such as Kiran Bedi, Police Advisor to the UN, who says that "the death penalty is necessary in certain cases to do justice to society's anger against the crime." An example of recent capital punishment in India includes Mohammad Afzal Guru, who was sentenced to death in 2013 after attacking the Indian Parliament in December 2001.


Evidence in opposition to the death penalty

Emperor Ashoka, who was a Buddhist, was one of the first rulers to completely outlaw the imposition of capital punishment. He outlawed the imposition of capital punishment because he believed in Buddhism's strong emphasis on ahimsa, or nonviolence. In Buddhism, and also in Hinduism, the concept of ahimsa bans the killing of any living being, no matter how small. Many people who oppose the death penalty go back to the beliefs of their enlightened ancestors who preached non-violence and that we should respect human rights and the gift of life. Gandhi also opposed the death penalty and stated that "I cannot in all conscience agree to anyone being sent to the gallows. God alone can take life because he alone gives it. In 1980, the Indian Supreme Court made it very clear that it does not take capital punishment lightly and as a result of Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab ruled that the death penalty should only be utilized in the "rarest of rare cases." Currently, it is mainly only human rights activists that take a stand against the death penalty. This is because they believe that the only people being sentenced to death are "the poor, the sick, and the ignorant." Also vulnerable are the non-Hindu minorities, who feel threatened by the idea of the death penalty and oppose it Although it is unclear whether a sample of Indian college students is representative of the whole population, Lambert found that when asked their opinion of the death penalty 44% of college students opposed it. However, when taking into account the importance of religion in their lives there was a significant relationship between religious affiliation and support for the death penalty.


Summary of worldwide denominational positions


See also

*The Bible and Violence *Death penalty in the Bible *Religious violence


Notes


References

* * * * * * * *


References

*For a detailed discussion on the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
's view on capital punishment see chapter 3 of
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
's encyclical
Evangelium Vitae
{{Authority control Religion and capital punishment, Religion and politics