Why do Christians support the death penalty?

What Christians? I never heard of this. Catholic Christians are strongly against the death penalty and anything else that attacks human dignity.

The old testament law was imperfect and unfulfilled. The code of revenge as justice was replaced with the law of forgiveness and peace as justice. The commandment that states THOU SHALL NOT KILL is still in place. Christ never said otherwise. Anyone who supports the death penalty cannot call themselves a follower of Jesus

Matt 5: 38-39 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, do not resist the evildoer. But whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well.

Any true Christian has to know that human beings are fallible and all human institutions are bound to get it wrong some of the time. The death penalty is no exception and its worst mistakes are irreversible. No matter how hard we try, we can’t eliminate all these mistakes.

Moreover, the death penalty doesn’t reduce crime, prolongs the anguish of families of murder victims and costs a whole lot more than life in prison. The death penalty comes down to retribution or revenge—the only plausible reasons to support it.

Jesus Christ told his followers to be “no part of the world.”—John 15:19; 17:16.

Can a Christian obey that injunction and still join the debate over the death penalty. Evidently not. This is, after all, a social and political issue. Perhaps the question for a Christian to ponder is this: Would Jesus have involved himself in the controversy over how this world’s governments wield “the sword”? Remember, when his countrymen tried to get him involved in politics, Jesus “withdrew again into the mountain all alone.” (John 6:15) It seems far more likely, then, that he would have left this matter where God put it—in the hands of the governments. True Christians today would recognize the right of governments to do as they wish.

Rather, they keep in mind the words of Ecclesiastes 8:4: “The word of the king is the power of control; and who may say to him: ‘What are you doing?’” Yes, the world’s ‘kings,’ or political rulers, have been granted the power to carry out their own will. No Christian has the authority to call them to task. But Jehovah can. And he will. The Bible allows us to look forward to the day when God will bring about final justice for every crime and every abuse of “the sword” in this old world.—Jeremiah 25:31-33; Revelation 19:11-21.

I'm a Christian. I do NOT support the death penalty.

Sometimes not supporting the Death Penalty for one person is a death penalty for many people.

ISIS for example should be killed on sight.

Killing someone because he killed someone, does not bring the dead back. BUT, keeping this person alive, all the while furnishing him with food, shelter, medical attention, exercise and so on, seems redundant., especially if this person has 50 or more years of life left. WHY, do they get so much done for them, while the victim gets nothing?

It is almost as if it were a reward.

I once knew an ex con, who at one time got hurt ( back problem) while working in the timber business. This injury was not one that happened suddenly, but came on over a period of years. But he could NOT afford medical care, so he suffered. One day, he committed a crime, and was sent back to prison.

HE got his back fixed up, free of charge.

He used to kid around with me, telling me, that he had it better inside, then out here. Out here, he had to provide for himself. Where he lived, what he ate, his medical care and so on. He had to furnish it. But inside, they furnished it.

Death Penalty? I do not like it. Killing someone for killing someone, does not solve the problem. But then, keeping someone alive for 60 years, living better then most people do, well, it just gives me second thoughts about the death penalty.

The fact is I do not support the death penalty as it is implemented by the US judicial system or any of the US states.

Not all Christians do. It is common in the US for Christians to be pro death, but Christians in many other countries, not so much.

So it really is more of an American thing than a Christian one.

While it's true that there are Christians that support the death of the guilty, a more important question is, why do atheists support the murder of innocent, unborn children, before they've even had a chance to take their first real breath? I think that's a much more serious issue!

The death penalty is only used for murderers. The bible says that whoever sheds the blood of man, by man must his blood be shed. At least it's a sure way to keep him from doing it again.