le. The bulk of their evidence comes from the Old Testament, which actually recommends the use of capital punishment for a number of crimes. Others also quote the Sixth Commandment which, in the original Hebrew, reads "Thou Shall Not Commit Murder." However, these literal interpretations of selected passages from the Bible which are often quoted out of context, corrupt the compassionate attitude of Judaism and Christianity, second of which clearly focuses on redemption and forgiveness and urges humane and effective ways of dealing with crime and violence. Those who use the Bible to support the death penalty are by themselves, since almost all religious groups in the United States regard executions as immoral.
             Those that argue that the death penalty is ethical state that former great leaders and thinkers such as Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Kant, Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Mill all supported it (Koch 324). However, Washington and Jefferson, two former presidents and admired men, both supported slavery as well. Surely, the advice of someone who clearly demonstrated a total disregard for the value of human life cannot be considered in such an argument as capital punishment. In regard to the philosophers, Immanuel Kant, a great ethical philosopher, stated that the motives behind actions determine whether something is moral or immoral (Palmer 271).
             The motives behind the death penalty, which revolves around revenge and the "frustration and rage of people who see that the government is not coping with violent crime," are not of good will, thereby making capital punishment immoral according to ethical philosophy (Bruck 329). The question of whether executions are a "cruel" form of punishment may no longer be an argument against capital punishment now that it can be done with lethal injections, but it is still very "unusual" in that it applies only to a select number of individuals, making the death penalty complete...