Crime and Punishment

Attitudes to lawbreakers - C

• 'Love your neighbour'

• 'Good Samaritan'

• 'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you'

Attitudes to lawbreakers - B

• 'Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love' - Dhammapada

• 'To avoid all evil, to cultivate good' - Teaching of the Buddhas

Retribution FOR - C

'Take eye for eye, tooth for tooth'

Retribution AGAINST - C

'Put the sword back in its place'

Retribution AGAINST - B

'We should not seek revenge on those who have committed crime against us' - Dalai Lama

Deterrence FOR - C

'Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again'

Deterrence AGAINST - C

'If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek too'

Deterrence FOR - B

Utilitarian view

'The greatest happiness for the greatest number'

Deterrence AGAINST - B

'The key to a happier and more successful society is the growth of compassion' - Dalai Lama

Reformation FOR - C

'If your enemy is hungry, feed him'

'Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath'

Reformation FOR - B

'We are not punished for our sins but by them' - David Loy

Treatment of Criminals AGAINST violence - C

• 'Do not repay anyone evil for evil'

• 'Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.'

Treatment of Criminals FOR violence - C

'Take eye for eye'

Treatment of Criminals AGAINST violence - B

• 'All tremble at violence; all fear death' - Dhammapada

FOR Death Penalty & Corporal Punishment - C

• 'Eye for an eye'

• 'Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed'

AGAINST Death Penalty & Corporal Punishment - C

• 'Do not kill'

• 'Love thy neighbour'

• 'Love your enemies'

FOR Death Penalty & Corporal Punishment - B

• Defence of the Dhamma

• Utilitarianism

AGAINST Death Penalty & Corporal Punishment - B

• 1st Moral Precept

• Ahimsa - do not harm

• 'Hatred does not cease by hatred but only by love'

Forgiveness - C

• 'Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us'

• 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing'

Forgiveness - B

• 'Life is too short to live with hatred' - Buddha

• 'If a person foolishly does me wrong, I will return to him the protection of my boundless love' - Buddha

Action VS Intention

We should judge intentions before we judge actions.

• St Thomas Aquinas: Doctrine of Double Effect