Crime and Punishment Flashcards
Describe the Difference Between a Crime and a Sin
-Crime is a legal word for actions that go against the law of the land and so are punishable by the law.
-Sin is a religious word that describes actions go against laws from God and are punishable by God. For Christians, the laws of God are found in the Bible.
-The laws of a country change so crimes will too. In contrast, the law of God is always the same so what is classed as a sin never changes.
-The Bible states “Obey the government for God has put it there.” Therefore, all crimes are sins but not all sins are crimes.
-Sins and crimes both have a negative impact on human relationships. However, sins also damage a relationship with God.
Describe Absolute Morality
-Absolute morality means that moral rules never change.
-They apply in the same way in every situation and cannot be altered.
-Morality is a standard independent of humans, yet is discovered by humans.
-For example, it is a part of natural law that humans believe murder is wrong.
-If absolute morality were applied to this belief, then it would be wrong in all circumstances such as abortion.
Describe the Benefits of Absolute Morality
-There are sets of rules outside of human decision making. For example, the Bible is clear in the Ten Commandments that some things are always wrong.
-Exodus states “Do not murder” so murder must always be wrong as the Law of God is unchanging so the rule that murder is wrong is not circumstantial.
-Moreover, there is a natural law that is higher than all the laws of states or countries and this natural law does not change.
-Therefore, some actions are always wrong because the Law of God is unchanging so human morality is unchanging too
Evaluate the Benefits of Absolute Morality
-This is an unconvincing argument because the laws of the Ten Commandments and Natural Law are just a reflection of a society’s norms at a given point in history.
-Therefore, they are not eternal and unchanging because many things once thought of as wrong are now seen as acceptable.
Describe Relative Morality.
-Relative morality is the belief that moral laws are a consequence of human society and are invented.
-This means that moral rules can change. They depend on the context or circumstances of the moral action.
-Relative morality is also the belief that moral laws change from place to place and from age to age.
-On World Youth Day 2008, Pope Benedict made clear that relative morality was dangerous for living a good life.
-He stated “ Relativism… has made “experience” all
important. Yet, experiences… can lead, not to genuine freedom, but to moral or intellectual confusion.”
Describe the Benefits of Relative Morality
-Jesus cautions against being too strict in judging others. He warned “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged”
-Therefore, we cannot know the intentions of a person’s heart so should never rule any action to be wrong in all circumstances.
-As a result, some actions may only be wrong in certain circumstances as life is complicated so it is not possible to say that actions will always be wrong
Evaluate the Benefits of Relative Morality
-This is an unconvincing argument because Jesus makes it clear in the Sermon on the Mount that he has not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it.
-He says that not one stroke of the law will disappear showing that rules about what is right and wrong are unchanging.
Describe Catholic Teachings on Forgiveness
-Forgiveness is at the heart of the Gospel message. Jesus’ example and teaching shows Catholics that they should treat others with love, compassion, mercy and forgiveness.
-Jesus stresses the importance of forgiveness throughout Matthew’s Gospel such as when He taught to forgive “seventy times seven times.”
-As a result, Catholics believe that there is no limit to forgiveness.
-Jesus also shows an example of forgiveness on the cross when He states, “forgive them Father, for they do not know what they are doing.”
-This further emphasises how Catholics should always forgive as Jesus was able to forgive His killers.
Describe Catholic beliefs About the Relationship Between Forgiveness and Punishment
-Forgiveness must work alongside punishment. Jesus spoke about punishment for wrongdoers.
-For example in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, “They will go away to eternal punishment but the righteous to eternal life.”
-Therefore, it is up to God to judge people and will forgive those who are truly sorry and want to change.
-Hence, Catholics believe that forgiveness and punishment can go together and would see the main role of punishment as being to help the person reform.
-They believe that forgiveness fosters dignity for all and does not replace punishment but needs to be part of the process in order to rehabilitate.
Describe the Aim of Rehabilitation
-Rehabilitation helps the offender see what they have done wrong and change their behaviour so they don’t repeat the offence.
-It is the idea that criminals can somehow be ‘cured’ if we understand why they commit crimes and help them to change.
-This may mean providing criminals with education, counselling, skills or training so they can become productive members of society and avoid breaking the law again.
-It is the only type of punishment that works in the long term because if criminals are not reformed, they will continue to commit crime when they are released from prison.
-It is most in line with Christian ideas on forgiveness. However, some see it as being soft on criminals.
Describe the Aim of Retribution
-Retribution is the idea that punishment should make criminals pay for what they have done wrong.
-This means getting even or taking revenge. It makes the victim of a crime feel a sense of justice that the offender got what they deserved.
-This goes with the Old Testament idea of ‘an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth’, but it does not reflect Jesus’ teaching that we should ‘turn the other cheek’ and not seek revenge.
-Sometimes victims feel that criminals do not get severe enough punishment, or there is a fear that the punishment could be too harsh.
-For Christians, the punishment has to be connected to justice and not revenge.
Describe the Aim of Deterrence
-Deterrence means to discourage, or put someone off committing a crime. Punishment may put someone off doing that action again.
-It also makes an example of the criminal and seeing the punishment given might deter someone else from doing the same thing.
-This is often one of the main arguments for the death penalty.
-However, many argue that deterrence does not work and that people are not really discouraged by the example of others receiving punishment.
-Deterrence also has to be just. Punishments should be no harsher than they need to be to put criminals off.
Describe St Augustine’s Teachings on Capital Punishment
-In his letters to Apringius and Macedonius, St Augustine emphasises the need to seek other forms of punishment if possible and not the death penalty.
-St Augustine stresses the need to hate the offence but to take pity on the criminal. He wrote, “There is no space to reform character except in this life.”
-This shows that we can only change the offender while they are living and not if their life is destroyed.
-St Augustine even stated that it is preferable to set free the offender than to seek revenge by the shedding of blood.
Describe Pope John Paul II’s Teachings on Capital Punishment
-Pope John Paul II taught that the purpose of capital punishment is to restore balance in society by punishing those who have disrupted it.
-He also said that it exists to protect society from the threat of crime and violence.
-However, he emphasised that capital punishment is only permissible when there is no other way of achieving the purposes of protecting society.
-He stated “‘If bloodless means are sufficient to defend human lives… public authority must limit itself to such means.”
-Cases where capital punishment is the only possible response to crime are rare, if not non-existent.
Describe Pope Francis’ Teachings on Capital Punishment
-In recent times, Pope Francis has stated that he is against penalty, saying that it is no longer justifiable.
-He also said that there is the real possibility that the wrong person might be killed.
-He has called for capital punishment to be abolished and for all Catholics to work towards this aim.
-Pope Francis also emphasised that capital punishment “undermines human dignity.”
-As a result, he has made changes to the Catechism in order to make clear that capital punishment is inadmissible as it opposes the sanctity of life.
