Fredward said:I bet not one of you would think twice about putting down a dog that has simply bitten a young child, and yet when it comes to human life somehow that's different?
Disregarding the rest of this argument (since this is a Crime and Punishment as a whole topic) - I would think twice about putting down a dog that has bitten a young child, in face I wouldn't do it at all. Nor would I hunt down a shark that has killed a man, or any of the other instances where this takes place. Maybe it is because I am vegetarian so take a different view on a society that kills 3 billion cows a year, but in this case we are killing animals that act on instinct; have no comprehension of the morals we uphold; think what they're doing is right and often do it for defensive reasons, even if there is no real threat.
With that regard to me it makes less sense to kill an animal with no concept of our accepted morals, than it does to murder a human who can comprehend the moral consequences of their actions.
That by no means makes it acceptable to enforce the murder penalty though, I just wanted to address the bizarre comparison to the killing of animals which I believe is also wrong in most cases.