The death penalty is a law regulated for most criminal acts that are being conducted by criminals. Death penalties set a fright among the other offenders and stop further killings. It saves the lives of innocent people who are threatened. It provides justice for the murders being conducted. The Bible also supports such punishments, as it states, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” It decreases the number of deaths. Without this law, many criminals would have been walking freely and continue to commit crimes (Weston, 2011).
This issue has some cons, too. According to some researchers, death penalties have higher death rates. It lacks evidence of acting as a lesson for the other criminals. There might be a chance that an innocent gets punished due to the lack of proof. This law has been constructed from our moral values, which are sometimes limited and vague. It’s not necessary that all of our moral values are good enough for the situations and people (Weston, 2011).
The people who are in favor of the death penalty are those who are so obsessed with moral values that they can’t look at the other perspective of things. They don’t consider the facts and figures which doesn’t follow their moral values. They provide justifications and argue with people to prove their point. Such people are known as dogmatists. They don’t discover other potentials of the issue and reject those studies that contradict their perspectives. A dogmatist doesn’t propose knowledgeable or convincing facts to prove their disagreement in the first place. These individuals become aggressive while justifying their points with the wrong reasons. For example, in the death penalty issue, people follow it, defend it, and don’t look into the facts and figures from other perspectives (Weston, 2011).
On the other hand, some people are not in favor of the death penalty law. These are the ones who believe in ethics. Not all people have the same perspective about things, and what is right for one person may not be right for another. The followers of ethics don’t follow the slogan “Mind your own business!” because it doesn’t help. They look into the issue and re-think their assumptions. For example, these people can’t reject the other perspectives which verify the cons of the death penalty because they are responsible people in their societies. Still, people follow their moral values rather than accepting changes in their surroundings (Weston, 2011).
One strategy to avoid dogmatism is to avoid creating categories in ethical issues or even positions. People should try to talk openly about things and have the patience to listen to other perspectives as well. Another strategy is to avoid labeling the ideas. Make yourself realize that it’s self-destructive to justify your beliefs and not look into the other side. People should question themselves to know whether they are on the right path or not. When they start getting irritated by being challenged, they should take this as a caution. All societies must encourage some respect for other’s lives. They should follow the ethical values as much as they can. Keep connected with others, continue thinking, and maintain communication because moral views make us mature. Be the one who always finds ways to be accountable in this changing world. Acknowledge the facts and evidence that are present. These can change our views certainly. Stop judging others and increase your experience. There’s always more to know about things; figure out the background of the issues. Still expect a change and try to acknowledge the changes in life as specific incidents and experiences change our personalities (Weston, 2011).
Works Cited
Weston, Anthony. A Practical Companion to Ethics. Oxford University Press, 2011.
