User:AnneD17/sandbox

Week 7 - Religion and Capital Punishment Drafts

Lead Section (ready for peer review)

Original Version

Major world religions take varied positions on the morality of capital punishment. Religions are often based on a body of teachings, such as the Old Testament and the Qur'an, which contain many cases of criminals being executed.

Edits

Major world religions take varied positions on the morality of capital punishment and have historically impacted the way in which the government handles punishment practices. Although the viewpoints of some religions have changed over time, its influence on capital punishment generally depends on the existence of a religious moral code and how closely religion influences the government . Religious moral codes are often based on a body of teachings, such as the Old Testament or the Qur'an.

According to the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the central book of the Baha'i faith, certain offenses such as murder and arson are punishable by the death penalty with the option of life imprisonment as an alternative. This likely stems from the belief that revenge is forbidden and that people should await the prescribed punishment for their offenses.

Buddhism has a strong belief in compassion for the lives of others, as stated in the panca-sila (five precepts). There is an understanding of healing people who have committed crimes rather than retaliation against them. For these reasons, Buddhism has generally opposed the death penalty.

Christianity, for example, has changed its perspective on the death penalty over time. Jesus' opinion that one should forgive their enemies was evident when he denied the right of the executioners to execute a woman for adultery in John 8:13. However, when Christianity became the major religion of the Roman Empire, it was believed that the leader is the "minister of god" and it is their duty to impose a necessary punishment for anyone that acts in an evil manner. Despite these differences in interpretation, the Roman Catholic church has taken a stance against the death penalty in recent history.

Although Hinduism has historically not taken a stance on the death penalty and has little influence on the governments opinion of it, India (an 80% Hindu nation) has the lowest rate of execution of any other country. This is likely due to the Hindu belief in Ahimsa, or non-violence, which became very apparent during Gandhi's time and was supported by India's ancient emperor Ashoka, who was the only leader in the countries history to openly oppose the death penalty.

Islamic nations have a governments run directly by the code of Sharia law. The Qur'an explicitly states that the taking of a life results in the taking of ones own, meaning that Islamic governments are in support of capital punishment. There are certain actions in Islam, such as adultery, that are recognized to result in the death penalty and the concept of religious "fatwas", in which the government allows an individual or a group of people to kill, is found only in Islam.

Judaism has a history of debate over the death penalty but generally agrees with the practice, with the exception of some small Jewish groups. Although the Torah describes over 30 situations where the death penalty would be appropriate, there are many limitations that have made it difficult to implement. Since 1954 Israel has outlawed the use of the death penalty, with the exceptions of genocide and treason, making its implementation in Jewish nations rare.

Notes

- religions influence on capital punishment depends on whether the religion has a moral code and how closely church and state are related

- many religions of the world are known to have taken a stance on capital punishment. In some cases these view points have changed over time

- Buddhism, for example, does not have a law code

- The panca-sila (five precepts) states that no one should kill in an effort to promote compassion for the lives of others. There is a strong belief in recovery of those who have committed crimes, rather than retaliation against them. For these reasons, Buddhism generally opposes the death penalty.

- Islam, however, has a government run directly by the code of Sharia law. The Koran explicitly states that the taking of a life results in the taking of ones own, meaning that Islamic governments are in support of capital punishment. There are certain actions in Islam, such as adultery, that are recognized to result in the death penalty and the concept of religious "fatwas", in which the government allows an individual or a group of people to kill, is found only in Islam.

- With the exception of Islam, there are no other religions that directly determine penalty laws of the government. It is common, however, that religion has some sort of influence on the topic.

- Religion has historically impacted the way government deals with punishment practices

- Christianity, for example, has changed its perspective on the death penalty over time. Jesus' opinion that one should forgive their enemies was evident when he denied the right of the executioners to execute a woman for adultery in John 8:13. However, when Christianity became the major religion of the Roman Empire, it was believed that the leader is the "minister of god" and it is their duty to impose a necessary punishment for anyone that acts in an evil manner. Despite these differences in interpretation, the Roman Catholic church has taken a stance against the death penalty in recent history.

- Although certain groups in Judaism have come out an opposed the practice of capital punishment, the majority of the religion generally supports the death penalty. The Torah includes over 30 crimes that can be punished by death. The circumstances under which the death penalty could actually be carried out are very specific and tend to reduce its actual use. Rabbi's have historically deemed the death penalty as not abiding by Jewish law and made implementation of the death penalty rare. Israel has outlawed the death penalty in 1954, with the exceptions of genocide and treason.

- Hinduism has not taken a definitive stance on the death penalty and it is predicted that it will have no effect on whether a country supports it. Belief in ahimsa, or non-violence, became very apparent during Gandhi's time. India has the lowest rate of executions out of any country. They have no set stance on the topic of capital punishment and are very picky with when it is necessary. Going back to India's roots, Emperor Ashoka was the only ruler to openly oppose the death penalty and practiced ahimsa. Having only one death penalty case in a period of 10 years, India seems to moving back to its roots.

- Baha'i faith believes that murder and arson are to be punished with the death penalty with the option of life imprisonment instead. This stems from their view that revenge is forbidden and that people should await the prescribed punishment for their offenses. It is also stated that the method of capital punishment is left up to the governing body and was not specified because it is supposed to be based on the current state of society. They also recognize different punishments for arson because it depends on the circumstances of what is burned.

Baha'i Faith Section (Ready for Peer Review - could not find much information)

Original Version

The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the central book of the Bahá'í Faith written by Bahá'u'lláh, includes death by immolation as a potential punishment for arson, along with life imprisonment (keep as opening sentence), but this punishment is not yet considered binding (can probably remove - confusing). Many details, such as the degrees of the offence, the consideration of extenuating circumstances, and which punishment would be the legal norm, were not specified by Bahá'u'lláh (change wording - too similar to original). A commentary on the Kitáb-i-Adqas states that the Bahá'í law of punishment for arson is intended for a future condition of society, and that the details left out by Bahá'u'lláh would eventually be subject to legislation by the Universal House of Justice whenever these laws become applicable (re-word).

Edits

The Baha'i faith is in favor of capital punishment.The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the central book of the Bahá'í Faith written by Bahá'u'lláh, includes death by immolation as a potential punishment for murder or arson, along with life imprisonment..The details of capital punishment were not explicitly mentioned and are left up to future society to decide. Details such as severity of the crime and methods of punishment are left up to the Universal House of Justice. Regarding arson, there is a difference in what type of "house" is burned. A person may be punished accordingly depending on the structure set on fire.

The Baha'i faiths views on capital punishment stem from the faiths strong belief in bettering society as a whole. There is a very strong focus on not showing retaliation or getting revenge, but rather that it is the duty of society to punish criminals for the safety of its people. It is believed that constantly building prisons and coming up with ways to punish crimes is instilling the wrong ideas in the people. Instead of focusing on punishing crime and waiting for crime to happen, people should focus their energy on education on how to be a good person. They want to focus on diminishing crime rather than punishing it. There is also a strong belief that the death of the murderer actually brings mercy to their soul. This is because they view God as just and that he will give no additional punishment to the soul after being put to death. Being put to death is seen as atonement for the crime.

Notes

- Very strong focus on not showing retaliation or getting revenge and bettering society as a whole. Strong belief in the idea that it is the duty of society to punish criminals for the safety of its people. It is believed that constantly building prisons and coming up with ways to punish crimes is instilling the wrong ideas in the people. Rather than focusing on punishing crime and waiting for crime to happen, the people should focus their energy on education on how to be a good person. They want to focus on diminishing crime rather than punishing it.

- the details of capital punishment were not explicitly mentioned and are left up to future society to decide. Details such as severity of the crime and methods of punishment are left up to the Universal House of Justice

- In terms of arson there is a difference in what type of house is burned. A person may be punished accordingly depending on the structure set on fire.

- The death of the murderer actually brings mercy to their soul. God is just and will give no additional punishment to the soul after being put to death. Being put to death is seen as atonement for the crime.

- Baha'i faith believes that murder and arson are to be punished with the death penalty with the option of life imprisonment instead. This stems from their view that revenge is forbidden and that people should await the prescribed punishment for their offenses. It is also stated that the method of capital punishment is left up to the governing body and was not specified because it is supposed to be based on the current state of society. They also recognize different punishments for arson because it depends on the circumstances of what is burned.

Hinduism Section (ready for peer review)

Original Version

A basis can be found in Hindu teachings both for permitting and forbidding the death penalty (keep sentence). Hinduism preaches ahimsa (or ahinsa, non-violence), but also teaches that the soul cannot be killed and death is limited only to the physical body (keep sentence). The soul is reborn into another body upon death (until Moksha), akin to a human changing clothes. The religious, civil and criminal law of Hindus is encoded in the Dharmaśāstras and the Arthashastra (add to later paragraph). The Dharmasastras describe many crimes and their punishments and calls for the death penalty in several instances, including murder, and righteous warfare (add to later paragraph).

Edits

Although Hinduism has historically not taken a stance on the death penalty and has little influence on the governments opinion of it, India (an 80% Hindu nation) has the lowest rate of execution of any other country. A basis can be found in Hindu teachings, such as the Mahabarata, for opposing the death penalty, even though it has historically been implemented by Hindu leaders. Hinduism preaches ahimsa (or ahinsa, non-violence), but also teaches that the soul cannot be killed and death is limited only to the physical body, explaining the difficulty in choosing an exact position on capital punishment.

Hinduisms belief that life in this world is more of an illusion greatly decreases the religious impact on governments in majority Hindu nations.Use of the death penalty has not faced much opposition by Indian citizens historically, with the exception of some recent backlash. Hinduisms belief in karma may explain why there is no strong support or opposition to capital punishment because it is believed that if someone commits a crime in this life, they will pay for it in another life.It is also believed that the soul comes back many times after death to be purified by good karma and a persons destiny determines when they die.

Evidence In Support of the Death Penalty

Historically,The Laws of Manu, or manusmriti, state that the king should be the one to decide on appropriate punishments. The king has the right to do whatever needs to be done in order to protect his people. He is given the right to punish criminals by placing them in shackles, imprisoning them, or sentencing them to death.It was observed in the 5th century that death sentences were related to caste. For example, If a Sudra insulted a priest they were sentenced to death but if a priest were to kill a sudra it was the equivalent of killing a dog or a cat and their only punishment would be to pay a fine. Other crimes worthy of capital or corporal punishment, according to the Laws of Manu, include when a lower caste man makes love to a woman of the highest caste, a Sudra slandering a Kshatriya, when men and women of the most noble family are stolen from, and when a women is violated without consent.

With a history of rulers who favored capital punishment, Ashoka is the only known ruler to openly oppose its use. The Mughal Invasion in 16th century marked the end of Ashoka's rule and the reintroduction of the death penalty by subsequent rulers . In the 1980s parliament expanded punishment by death to offenses such as terrorism and kidnapping for ransom. This decision was supported by the public and a survey conducted in the 1980s solidified this support in finding that teachers, doctors, and lawyers all favored the death penalty. Currently, the Indian Penal Code (IPC) recognizes legitimacy of the death penalty in cases of murder, waging war against the government, encouraging suicide, fabricating false evidence, kidnapping, and murder as part of a robbery. Today, It is common to find people in support of the death penalty such as Kiran Bedi, Police Advisor to the UN, who says that "the death penalty is necessary in certain cases to do justice to society's anger against the crime." An example of recent capital punishment in India includes Mohammad Afzal Guru, who was sentenced to death in 2013 after attacking the Indian Parliament in December of 2001.

Evidence Opposing the Death Penalty

Emperor Ashoka, who ruled during what is called "the golden age" of Hinduism, was one of the first rulers to completely outlaw the use of capital punishment. This was because of his large emphasis on ahimsa, or nonviolence.In Hinduism, the concept of ahimsa bans the killing of any living being, no matter how small. Many people who oppose the death penalty go back to the beliefs of their enlightened ancestors who preached non-violence and that we should respect human rights and the gift of life.Gandhi also opposed the death penalty and stated that "I cannot in all conscience agree to anyone being sent to the gallows. God alone can take life because he alone gives it. In 1980, the Indian Supreme Court made it very clear that it does not take capital punishment lightly and as a result of Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab ruled that the death penalty should only be utilized in the "rarest of rare cases."Currently, it is mainly only human rights activists that take a stand against the death penalty. This is because they believe that the only people being sentenced to death are "the poor, the sick, and the ignorant."Also vulnerable are the non-Hindu minorities, who feel threatened by the idea of the death penalty and oppose it Although it is unclear whether a sample of Indian college students is representative of the whole population, Lambert found that when asked their opinion of the death penalty 44% of college students opposed it. However, when taking into account the importance of religion in their lives there was a significant relationship between religious affiliation and support for the death penalty.

Notes

-Although Hinduism has historically not taken a stance on the death penalty and has little influence on the governments opinion of it, India (an 80% Hindu nation) has the lowest rate of execution of any other country. This is likely due to the Hindu belief in Ahimsa, or non-violence, which became very apparent during Gandhi's time and was supported by India's ancient emperor Ashoka, who was the only leader in the countries history to openly oppose the death penalty.

- Written very early on, the laws of Manu and the Yajnavalkya-smrti state that the king is responsible for deciding on criminal punishments. These texts also lay out certain punishments, such as death, depending on the offense.

- The Laws of Manu, or manusmriti, state that the king should be the one to decide on punishments. The king has the right to do whatever needs to be done in order to protect his people. The king is allowed to punish criminals by placing them in shackles, imprisonment, or the death penalty

-The laws of Manu state that corporal and capital punishment is just when a lower caste man makes loves to a woman of the highest caste, a Sudra has slandered a Kshatriya,for stealing from men and women of the most noble family, and violation of a woman who does not consent.

-Indian Penal Code (IPC) recognizes legitimacy of the death penalty in cases of murder, waging war against the government,encouraging suicide, fabricating false evidence, kidnapping and murder as part of a robbery.

-It is mainly only human rights activists that take a stand against the death penalty. This is because they believe that the only people being sentences to death are "the poor, the sick, and the ignorant." It is more common to find people in support of the death penalty such as Kiran Bedi, Police Advisor to the UN, what says that "the death penalty is necessary in certain cases to do justice to society's anger against the crime."

-Use of the death penalty has not faced much opposition historically, but there has been some backlash recently. However, majority support for the death penalty remains.

-India has adopted the British law code after gaining its independence rather than a Hindu code of law that lays out penal guidelines. This explains the small impact that Hindu beliefs actually have on government opinions.

-Hinduisms belief in karma may explain why there is no strong support or opposition to capital punishment because it is believed that if someone commits a crime in this life, they will pay for it in another life.(add to last paragraph)

-The soul comes back many times after death to be purified by good karma. It is believed that a persons destiny determines when they die.(add to last paragraph)

-It was observed in the 5th century that death sentences are related to caste. If a Sudra insulted a priest they were sentenced to death but if a priest were to kill a sudra it was the equivalent of killing a dog or a cat and their only punishment would be to pay a fine.

-Mughal invasion of 16th century brought back death penalty after Ashoka's rule.

- in the 1980s parliament expanded punishment by death to offenses such as terrorism and kidnapping for ransom. This was supported by the public and a survey conducted in the 1980s also found that teachers, doctors, and lawers all supported the death penalty.

-An example of capital punishment includes Mohammad Afzal Guru who was sentenced to death after attacking the Indian Parliament in December of 2001.

-Emperor Ashoka, who ruled during what is called "the golden age" of Hinduism, was one of the first rulers to completely outlaw the use of capital punishment. This was because of his large emphasis on ahimsa, or nonviolence.

-Gandhi stated that "I cannot in all conscience agree to anyone being sent to the gallows. God alone can take life because he alone gives it."

-The concept of ahimsa bans the killing of any living being, no matter how small. Many people who oppose the death penalty go back to their enlightened ancestors who preached non-violence and that we should respect human rights and the gift of life.

-Hinduisms belief that life in this world is more of an illusion greatly decreases the religious impact on governments in majority Hindu nations.

-Bachan Singh v State of Punjab - death penalty in rarest of rare cases

-those that most often receive the death penalty are illiterate, poor, and vulnerable

-non-Hindu minorities feel threatened by the idea of the death penalty and oppose it

-study conducted on Indian college students found that 44% opposed it

Islam

Edits

Islamic governments are in support of capital punishment. Islamic nations have governments run directly by the code of Sharia law and, therefore, Islam is the only known religion to have a direct impact on the governments opinion on capital punishment. Islamic law is often used in the court system of many Islamic countries and does not separate church and state. The Quran is viewed as the direct word of Allah and going against its teachings is seen as going against the whole basis of the law. Outlawing the death penalty in Islam is simply not an option because it directly violates the teachings of Mohammad. Islamic law states "Do not kill a soul which Allah has made sacred except through the process of due law," meaning that the death penalty is allowed in certain cases where the law says it is necessary. The Quran explicitly states that the taking of a life results in the taking of ones own. According to the Quran, the death penalty is recognized for the seven "Hudud" crimes which include adultery, defamation, drinking alcohol, theft, highway robbery, apostasy, and corruption of Islam. These are the most severe crimes because it is believed that these acts go directly against the word of god and are seen as a threat to society.

Islamic nations generally agree upon the retention of the death penalty but differ in how they impose it, indicating that there is still disagreement on the issue even within the religion of Islam. Iran and Iraq, for example, are very open about using the death penalty frequently, whereas the Islam nation of Tunisia only uses it in extremely rare cases. Sudan, for example, will impose the death penalty for those under the age of eighteen while Yemen has taken a stance against using the death penalty for minors.The UN has voiced concern about the sudden increase in death sentences in Iran since 2014. Although Iran has been called upon multiple times to stop utilizing the death penalty so frequently, a total of 625 executions were carried out in 2013 alone. Many of these executions consisted of drug related crimes, "enmity against god", and threatening national security. In a controversial case, Iranian woman Reyhaneh Jabbari was hanged in Tehran in October of 2014 for the murder of a man she claimed attempted to rape her. Her sentence is supported by the concept of qisas found in the Quran.The term qisas is translated as "equality in retaliation," meaning that any injury inflicted on another should be compensated for by punishing the perpetrator with the same injury.

Fatwas and Jihad

A fatwa is translated as a legal ruling that is issued by an Islamic legal expert that addresses the allowance or prohibition of a certain act. Fatwas promoting violence, in which the government allows an individual or a group of people to kill, is found only in Islam.. Some fatwas are based on jihad, defined by radicals as a military conflict that is generally an individual duty for all healthy adult males. This idea becomes relevant in military struggles between Muslims and non-believers in which Muslims are not permitted to flee. The necessity to fight is viewed as an act of faith to Allah and those that remain loyal will be rewarded. Ancient Islamic law lays out conditions under which jihads can be waged and around 10-14 out of the 36 total conditions are military related. Other forms of jihad include personal struggles with the evil implications of ones soul or wealth. Current military motivations might be coming from the idea that Islam can only be spread through violence although the modern world includes methods such as mass media and the internet

Traditionally, fatwas must identify the legal problem being addressed, consider other rulings regarding the issue, and lay out a clear guide on how to solve the problem. Fatwas need to be based on many sources such as the Qur'an, the sunnah, logical analogies, public interest, and necessity. There has been question about a Muslim following a fatwa that causes him to sin, particularly in cases of violence. This falls back on the cleric that issued to fatwa and the person that committed the potential crime. This has led to radical interpretations of legitimacy of killing in order to fulfill a fatwa. An example of this include Islamic terrorism which states that "the meaning of jihad is to strive to liberate Muslim lands of the grip of kuffar who usurped them and imposed on them their own laws instead of the laws of Allah." Fatwas have been issued by radicals of the Muslim community against the west with claims of heresy and world domination. An example of this is the fatwa issued by Sheikh Abdallah 'Azzam who called for an on going jihad "until all of mankind worships Allah." This resulted in a fatwa that encouraged killing all non-believers was the responsibility of all Muslims as a response to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Another example includes when Well known Islamic religious leader, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, issued a fatwa in February of 2011 against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. He stated that "whoever in the Libyan army is able to shoot a bullet at Mr Gaddafi should do so," on Al-Jazeera television.

Notes

- Islam, however, has a government run directly by the code of Sharia law. The Koran explicitly states that the taking of a life results in the taking of ones own, meaning that Islamic governments are in support of capital punishment. There are certain actions in Islam, such as adultery, that are recognized to result in the death penalty and the concept of religious "fatwas", in which the government allows an individual or a group of people to kill, is found only in Islam.

-Islam us the only known religion to have a direct impact on the governments laws regarding penalties.

-Islamic law is often used in the court system of many Islamic countries and does not separate church and state. The Koran is viewed as the direct word of Allah and going against its teachings, such as life for life, is seen as going against the whole basis of the law. Outlawing the death penalty in Islam is simply not an option because it directly violates the teachings of Mohammad and therefore is a violation of the law.

-The Koran clearly states that the death penalty can be used in cases of adultery, apostasy, and murder.

-Islamic law states "Do not kill a soul which Allah has made sacred except through the process of due law," meaning that the death penalty is allowed in certain cases where the law says it is necessary.

-Islamic nations generally agree upon the retention of the death penalty but differ in how they impose it, indicating that there is still disagreement on the issue even within the religion of Islam. Iran and Iraq, for example, are very open about using the death penalty frequently, whereas the Islam nation of Tunisia only uses it in extremely rare cases. Sudan, for example, will impose the death penalty for those under the age of eighteen while Yemen has taken a stance against using the death penalty for minors.

-The UN has voiced concern about the sudden increase in death sentences in Iran since 2014. Although Iran has been called upon multiple times to stop utilizing the death penalty so frequently, a total of 625 executions were carried out in 2013 alone. Many of these executions consisted of drug related crimes, "enmity against god", and threatening national security.

-Iranian woman Reyhaneh Jabbari was hanged in Tehran in October of 2014 for the murder of a man she claimed attempted to rape her. Her sentence is supported by the concept of qisas found in the Koran.

-The term qisas, as it appears in the Quran, is translated as "equality in retaliation," meaning that any injury inflicted on another should be compensated for by punishing the perpetrator with the same injury.

-Death penalty is recognized for the seven "Hadud" crimes which include adultery, defamation, drinking alcohol, theft, highway robbery, apostasy, and corruption of Islam. These are the most severe crimes because it is believe that these acts go directly against the word of god and are seen as a threat to society. The middle east, north africa, and central asia have the highest rates of capital punishment and are also majority muslim nations

- A fatwa is translated as a legal ruling that is issued by an Islamic legal expert that addresses the allowance or prohibition of a certain act. Fatwas promoting violence, in which the government allows an individual or a group of people to kill, is found only in Islam..

-Well known Islamic religious leader, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, issued a fatwa in February of 2011 against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. He stated that "whoever in the Libyan army is able to shoot a bullet at Mr Gaddafi should do so," on Al-Jazeera television.

-Traditionally, fatwas must identify the legal problem being addressed, consider other rulings regarding the issue, and lay out a clear guide on how to solve the problem. Fatwas need to be based on many sources such as the Qur'an, the sunnah, logical analogies, public interest, and necessity. There has been question about a Muslim following a fatwa that causes him to sin, particularly in cases of violence. This falls back on the cleric that issued to fatwa and the person that committed the potential crime. This has led to radical interpretations of legitamacy.

-Ancient Islamic law lays out conditions under which jihads can be waged. Only 10-14 out of the 36 total conditions are military related. Other forms of jihad include personal struggles with the evil implications of ones soul or wealth. Current military implications might be coming from the idea that Islam can only be spread through violence although the modern world includes methods such as mass media and the internet

-Fatwas have been issued by radicals of the Muslim community against the west with claims of heresy and world domination. Some fatwas are based on jihad, defined by radicals as a military conflict that is generally an individual duty for all healthy adult males. This idea becomes relevant in military struggles between Muslims and non-believers in which Muslims are not permitted to flee. The necessity to fight is viewed as an act of faith to Allah and those that remain loyal will be rewarded. An example of this is the fatwa issued by Sheikh Abdallah 'Azzam who called for an on going jihad "until all of mankind worships Allah." This resulted in a fatwa that encouraged killing all non-believers was the responsibility of all Muslims as a response to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan in 1979

- Islamic terrorism states that "the meaning of jihad is to strive to liberate Muslim lands of the grip of kuffar who usurped them and imposed on them their own laws instead of the laws of Allah."

Buddhism

Original

These sentences are interpreted by many Buddhists (especially in the modern humanistic west) as an injunction against supporting any legal measure which might lead to the death penalty. However, as is often the case with the interpretation of scripture, there is dispute on this matter. Historically, most states where the official religion is Buddhism have imposed capital punishment for some offences. One notable exception is the abolition of the death penalty by the Emperor Saga of Japan in 818. This lasted until 1165, although in private manors executions continued to be conducted as a form of retaliation. Japan still imposes the death penalty, although some recent justice ministers have refused to sign death warrants, citing their Buddhist beliefs as their reason. Other Buddhist-majority states vary in their policy. For example, Bhutan has abolished the death penalty, but Thailand still retains it, although Buddhism is the official religion in both.

The Buddhist concept of lethal self-defence is subtly non-linear and based on the criterion of prevention of greater suffering. The Bodhicaryavatara of Shantideva (8th century AD), authorises violence if it is necessary to prevent suffering: "One should always strive for the benefit of others. Even that which has been prohibited has been permitted for the compassionate one who foresees benefit"; "May I be a protector for those who do not have protectors"; and "If the suffering of many disappears because of the suffering of one, then a compassionate person should induce that suffering for the sake of others." Upaya-kaushalya sutra (Skillful Means) tells the story of a Bodhisattva who saved hundreds of people by killing a murderous thief. Other Mahayana scriptures explain that such a defensive killing prevents the murderer from bringing more bad karma on himself, and creates good karma for the defender, providing that the defender acts in the spirit of compassion. This is known in Japanese Buddhist tradition as issatsu tasho, "killing one (aggressor) in order that many (innocents) may live" and is a manifestation of "skillful means". In mystical Zen Buddhism (as reflected in Japanese Bushido), there is a traditional expression: "the sword that (justly) kills is the identical with the sword that gives life".

edits

Although the death penalty is generally opposed in Buddhist nations, it is difficult to identify a specific opinion because some countries that are majority Buddhist to not follow religious principles at all. Buddhist principles may not carry much weight, even in the case of a Buddhist ruler, because there is no direct effort of Buddhist followers to encourage pacifism in their country. The five precepts are not a divine order from god they are merely a set of ethical guidelines to live by. For this reason, rulers do not necessarily have to worry about being punished by god for not following them, and some leaders may chose to simply ignore these guidelines when trying to run a country.

Buddhist Opposition of Capital Punishment

The first of the Five Precepts (Panca-sila) is to abstain from destruction of life. Chapter 10 of the Dhammapada states:

Everyone fears punishment; everyone fears death, just as you do. Therefore do not kill or cause to kill. Everyone fears punishment; everyone loves life, as you do. Therefore do not kill or cause to kill.

This concept is meant top encourage compassion (karuna) and that everyone has the opportunity to reach enlightenment. Buddhism retains the idea that all life should be valued and valuing the life of someone who does not necessarily value the life of others shows great compassion and non-violence (ahimsa). The concept of ahimsa also includes Karma, which recognizes that killing is an example of bad karma and that killing for revenge is seen as counterproductive.. It is believed that even the lives of murderers have value. There is a strong focus on rehabilitation and killing people takes away their opportunity be helped. Killing for revenge is seen as counterproductive.

Chapter 26, the final chapter of the Dhammapada, states, "Him I call a brahmin who has put aside weapons and renounced violence toward all creatures. He neither kills nor helps others to kill." The story of the Jhanasanda-Jataka contains a similar message in talking about a prince who gets rid of all places of execution . Similarly, the Rajaparikatha-ratnamala contain advice given by the Buddhist Philosopher Nagarjuna and states that people should have compassion even for murderers and that banishment should be utilized as opposed to killing. This strong emphasis on compassion, in relation to capital punishment, is also evident in the story of Angulimata. Angulimata is a murderer that everyone in the village fears. Despite this, the Buddha heads down the road to where Angulimata is rumored to live. Out of compassion, the Buddha finds him and teaches him how to be a monk. This exemplifies the Buddhist concept of rehabilitation, however, Angulimata had built up too much bad karma previously and died a painful death as a result.

Historically, many Buddhist Kings in India did not practice the death penalty. They imposed fines instead and cut off a hand at worst. Some people view this as surprising because many pre-modern societies used capital punishment often. Many places used banishment instead and sent murders off to mountains in the desert with just enough food to survive.Today Japan is very harsh to prisoners and still retains the death penalty, however, during the rule of emperor Shomu (from 724-749 AD) capital punishment was not allowed . Both the current Dalai Lama and his immediate predecessor have openly opposed the death penalty . The previous Dalai Lama (1879-1933) abolished the death penalty in an attempt to reform Tibet's feudal system after he had previously avoided cases involving capital punishment because of his focus on being a religious figure.

Actions of Buddhist Countries

Bhutan, Cambodia, and Thailand all recognize Buddhism as a state religion and use a Buddhist approach to address the issue of capital punishment. Cambodia is the only nation to have officially outlawed the use of the death penalty while neither Thailand or Bhutan have utilized capital punishment in many years.

Thailand is home to about 63 million people, 95% of these people follow Theravada Buddhism and it has become central to the culture and identity of Thailand. It has been observed that few Buddhist monks and authorities have taken action against the death penalty. Many monks in Thailand have been surprisingly tolerant. This might be because they come from rural areas of the country where the death penalty is strongly supported, they lack information because it is not a pressing issue and not widely debated, or they simply have no power and are forbidden from making political statements because political authorities are esclusively in control of the Buddhist government in Thailand. Thailand's war on drugs may potentially explain its current retention of the death penalty. The manufacture and distribution of drugs is considered an offense in which the death penalty is mandatory, in Thailand. There were no executions in Thailand, however, between the years of 1988-1995 and 2004-2007.

Sri Lanka also recognizes Buddhism as its official state religion but appears to moving toward an increase in its use of capital punishment. It is unclear, however, if this anything to do with its Buddhist beliefs.Unlike Thailand, Sri Lanka has had a long history of political and religious tension due to its history of being ruled by various countries. Its Buddhist influence was weakened by foreign rulers that believed in a suppression of Buddhist culture. A buddhist monk was sentenced to death after his assassination of Prime Minister Bandaranaike in 1959 because he felt that he had not lived up to his political promises of promoting Buddhist culture within politics.Anthropologist Edmund Leach believes that the current government of Sri Lanka is made up of Buddhist leaders that do not adhere much to their Buddhist faith. Buddhist leaders in Sri Lanka have either supported the death penalty or been indifferent to its use. There has not been an execution in Sri Lanka since 1977 because the president changed all death sentences to life imprisonment instead. The government is now beginning to bring back the use of the death penalty in response to public demand in order to reduce the number of violent crimes being committed.

Although it is communist, Laos has a much less intense commitment to capital punishment than other nearby communist nations. This is likely due to its strong influence of Theravada Buddhism. Myanmar also has a strong Theravada Buddhism influence in its country and has not carried out any government ordered executions since 1989. Taiwan has the same percentage of Buddhists as Thailand does and after interviewing four Taiwanese Buddhists, they were all in agreement that capital punishment goes against Buddhist teachings. They recognized that many Buddhist nations retain the death penalty because Buddhist monks never played a significant role in the political process. Buddhist plays a minor role in Taiwanese politics and one of the monks stated that "the people involved in politics and government are a different group of people than those pursuing spiritual goals."

notes

-The first of the five precepts states that people should not kill. This is supposed to encourage compassion (karuna) and that everyone has the opportunity to reach enlightenment.

-All life should be valued and valuing the life of someone who does not necessarily value the life of others shows great compassion and non-violence (ahimsa). The concept of ahimsa also includes Karma, which states that killing is an example of bad karma. Even the lives of murderers have value. There is a focus on rehabilitation and by killing people they cannot be rehabilitated. Killing for revenge is seen as counterproductive.

- At the end of the Dhammapada there is a quote that states "him I call a brahmin who has put aside weapons and renounced violence against all creatures. He neither kills nor helps to kill."

-Jhanasanda-Jataka tells the story of a prince who gets rid of all places of execution

-The Rajaparikatha-ratnamala contain advice given by the Buddhist Philosopher Nagarjuna and states that people should have compassion even for murderers and that banishment should be utilized as opposed to killing

-Strong emphasis on compassion, which is related to capital punishment. In the story of Angulimata, he is murderer that everyone in the village fears. Despite this, the Buddha heads down the road to where Angulimata is rumored to live. Out of compassion, the Buddha finds him and teaches him how to be a monk. This shows the buddhist concept of rehabilitation, however, Angulimata had built up too much bad karma previously and died a painful death as a result.

-Many Buddhist Kings in India did not practice the death penalty, but instead they imposed fines and cut off a hand at worst. This is surprising because many pre-modern societies used capital punishment often. Many places used banishment instead and sent murders off to mountains in the desert with just enough food to survive.

-Today Japan is very harsh to prisoners and still retains the death penalty, however, during the rule of emperor Shomu capital punishment was not allowed (from 724-749 AD)

-During the rule of the previous Dalai Lama (1879-1933) he abolished the death penalty in an attempt to reform Tibet's feudal system. He had previously avoided cases involving capital punishment because of his focus on being a religious figure. The current Dalai Lama also opposes the death penalty.

-In terms of imposing the death penalty on a governmental level, some countries that are majority buddhist to not follow religious principles at all in determining use of capital punishment. Bhutan, Cambodia, and Thailand all recognize Buddhism as a state religion and use a Buddhist approach to address the issue of capital punishment. Cambodia is the only nation to have officially outlawed the use of the death penalty while neither Thailand or Bhutan have utilized capital punishment in many years.

-Buddhist principles may not carry much weight, even the case of a Buddhist ruler because there is no direct effort of Buddhist followers to encourage pacifism in their country. Since the five precepts are not a divine order from god they are merely a set of ethical guidelines to live by. For this reason, rulers do not necessarily have to worry about being punished by god for not following them, and some leaders may chose to simply ignore these guidelines when trying to run a country.

-Thailand is home to about 63 million people, 95% of these people follow Theravada Buddhism and it has become central to the culture and identity of Thailand.

- It has been observed that few Buddhist monks and Buddhist authorities have taken action against the death penalty. Many monks in Thailand have been surprising tolerant because they come from rural areas of the country where the death penalty is strongly supported, they lack information (because it is not a pressing issue and not widely debated), and they simply have no power and are forbidden from making political statements (political authorities are strictly in control of the Buddhist government in Thailand.

-Thailand's war on drugs may potentially explain its current retention of the death penalty. The manufacture and distribution of drugs is considered an offense in which the death penalty is mandatory, in Thailand.

-There were no executions between the recent years of 1988-1995 and 2004-2007.

-Although it is communist, Laos has a much less intense commitment to capital punishment than other nearby communist nations. This is likely due to its strong influence of Theravada Buddhism. Myanmar also has a strong Theravada Buddhism influence in its country and has not carried out any government ordered executions since 1989.

-Sri Lanka also recognizes Buddhism as its official state religion but appears to moving toward an increase in its use of capital punishment. It is unclear, however, if this anything to do with its Buddhist beliefs.

-Unlike Thailand, Sri Lanka has had a long history of political and religious tension due to its history of being ruled by various countries. Its Buddhist influence was weakened by foreign rulers that believed in a suppression of Buddhist culture. A buddhist monk was sentenced to death after his assassination of Prime Minister Bandaranaike because he felt that he had not lived up to his political promises of promoting Buddhist culture within politics.

-The current government of Sri Lanka is believed by anthropologist Edmund Leach to be made up of Buddhist leaders that do not adhere much to their Buddhist faith. Buddhist leaders in Sri Lanka have either supported the death penalty or been indifferent to its use. There has not been an execution in Sri Lanka since 1977 because the president changed all death sentences to life imprisonment instead. The government is now beginning to bring back the use of the death penalty in response to public demand in order to reduce the number of violent crimes being committed.

-Taiwan has the same percentage of Buddhists as Thailand does. After interviewing four Taiwanese Buddhists, they were all in agreement that capital punishment goes against Buddhist teachings. They recognized that many Buddhist nations retain the death penalty because Buddhist monks never played a significant role in the political process. Buddhist plays a minor role in Taiwanese politics and one of the monks stated that "the people involved in politics and government are a different group of people than those pursuing spiritual goals."

Week 6 - Religion and Capital Punishment

Potential Contributions

-The lead section needs to be expanded, cited, and changed to be less of an opinionated statement.

-Add to the Baha'i faith section

-Clean up the Buddhism section - there are too many direct quotes and not all are cited. It also seems to be written as opinion rather than fact.

-Add to some of the sub-sections of Christianity. For example the Orthodox church, Anglican, and Mormonism. There is a lot of debate about the Christianity section on the talk page so i'm not sure if I want to focus on that section as much.

-The Hinduism section can be expanded as well. The first few sentences seem to summarize the teachings of Hinduism and fails to relate these to capital punishment. This section is also not cited at all.

-The Islam section needs the most work because it has no information at all besides the external links.

-I want to start each section off with a sentence clearly stating the religions current stance on the death penalty. To make each section more comprehensive, it would help to state the stance and then list evidence found in religious teachings and historical practices.

Bibliography

Use for lead section

Use for Lead Section

Use for Islam Section

Use for Multiple Religions

Use for Buddhism Section

Use for Baha'i faith section

Use for Islam and Hinduism

Week 5 - Article Ideas

Hello! @Alfgarciamora: I found two potential articles to edit for my project, Mortuary Temple and Hanging Coffins, there is plenty of information to add but I was wondering if I need to worried about overlapping information with other pages related to these topics.

@AnneD17: I think both of these topics sound great. Don't worry about overlapping with information on other pages. One of the things you will do is to link to other pages. What is important, however, is whether you can find citations about the particular topic that is not already on other pages. Do you think your research into these topics will be fruitful? Alfgarciamora (talk) 15:38, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

1. Hanging Coffins (low importance)

Need to find more reliable sources with working links. The talk page has little commentary but has a bunch of external links modified. Edits could be made throughout the whole page but I could focus mainly on editing the sub headings of each group of people/geographical locations that these are found.

2. Spell of the Twelve Caves (low importance)

The page itself has very little information and lacks any comments on its talk page. After doing a quick google search, I found a book discussing the topic.

3. ship burial in Asia (mid to high importance)

Upon first opening the page, there is a box at the top of the article stating that this article has multiple issues that must be discussed on the talk page (which has no comments on it). Two major issue include that it is not linked to any other pages (however, i think it has been after this comment was posted) and that it is too biased to the editors opinion and seems like a persuasive article. Similar to the hanging coffins page, it is broken up by location but has much more information under the Phillipines section than anywhere else. I found it interesting that it talks about some of the same civilizations as the hanging coffins page, it might be interesting to find similarities and possibly link the pages.

4. mortuary temple (mid importance)

I think this would be an interesting article to edit because it only has a "history" heading and there is a lot that can be added, especially related to religion. The talk page had a suggesting to merge with another page and questioned whether mortuary temples were purely an Egyptian practice. The editor seemed very proactive and responded well to questions, showing that this person might be pleasant to work with. However, this page is linked to many others and seems to be an umbrella page for specific mortuary temples of notable people. It is a little overwhelming to take these all into account and would require very broad explanations.

5. funerary cone (low importance)

This page had little to no information and stated that the use of funerary cones in unknown. This raised a red flag because this makes it very difficult to add information to, however, it was rated as stub class which indicates there should be more research done. A quick google search provided a lot of information about how they are made and the messages written on them. This indicated that there is a lot of information that can still be added and I also found that there are many hypothesis as to their purpose which would be interesting to add.

Week 5 - Potential Article to Edit

1. Hanging Coffins

I definitely want to add to the locations that have very little information. For example, the Philippines and Indonesia. This is the article I added to for the last assignment, however, the source that I found was not actually published yet. I definitely need to find some good, reliable sources before committing to this article.

2. Mortuary Temple

This page was ranked as a stub but also as mid importance by some of the wikiprojects. This tells me it would be a good article to work on. The hard part would be finding reliable information that is not super specific and making sure to link that many of the related topics. I would definitely like to add a religious section to explain the concept and just add more to the page because it is currently very heavily focused on the history.

3. Ship burial in Asia

this might be an important page to edit because it is ranked mid-high importance. I would definitely like to add to the China, Japan, and Vietnam sections so that there is a more even distribution of information on the page. I would also want to add some sections more broad than just specific locations. The sub headings are also slightly off topic and distracting from the overall concept. There is potential for some of this information to be merged to more specific pages and for the sub headings to be more specific to ship burials.

Week 4 - Hanging Coffins Page Edit

....exemplifying both the practical and spiritual reasons for this practice Spiritually, the Bo people viewed the mountain cliffs as a stairway to heaven and believed that by placing the coffins up high the deceased would be closer to heaven. A practical reason for placing the coffins on cliffs includes isolation, so that they are hard for animals to reach and less vulnerable to destruction.

Week 3 - Article Evaluation Assignment

Article Evaluation - Samsara (Buddhism)

1. I found that in general, the information was relevant and on topic. The article did a good job of laying the general background of the idea of samsara and I liked that it had a "characteristics" section to explain what exactly samsara means. I also liked the sub sections that went into slightly more detail for example, the different realms of rebirth, the mechanism behind it, and the causes and end of samsara. The one section that distracted me a little and felt out of place was the psychological interpretation section. I feel that this could have its own page and it took away from the general summary of samsara that this page was trying to convey. I felt that this was more of an analysis than a general description into the idea of samsara. Potentially there could be a separate wikipedia page dedicated to the analysis and interpretations of the Buddhist idea of samsara.

2. In general this article seems fairly neutral. I noticed a potential for bias under the realms of birth section where it talks about gods realm. After reading the first few sentences I got the idea that this is the best realm and that this is what everyone would strive to be born into. It talks about being a very happy and heavenly state that results from the accumulation of lots of good karma throughout the lifetime. However, the author recognizes the negative side of the realm being that it can lead to attachment and will ultimately prevent you from reaching nirvana. I found it interesting that instead of playing it up to be such a great thing to achieve, it is recognized that a soul will ultimately be stuck here and will never reach the ultimate Buddhist goal of nirvana.

3. I think that the article does a good job of representing the different parts of samsara and its characteristics. However, I feel that such an important topic in Buddhism could use a lot more information. I think there could be a section talking about the history of the idea of samsara and how and when this idea first came about. This could also include whether or not this idea was further developed and changed since its origins. I also think that this article could look at the differences in the views of samsara between the different types of Buddhism. Without necessarily going into the different versions of Buddhism, the article could touch on these different beliefs and how samsara ties into each one. I think it would also be helpful to readers if the article explained how the idea of samsara ties into the everyday lives of the Buddhists. Are there certain practices they participate in or are there certain ideals that they follow to ensure a positive experience with samsara? How does this idea explain some of foundations of Buddhism and its beliefs?

4. Many of the links that I clicked on worked and led me straight to the source that the information was from. These references were mostly links to pdfs of journals and scholarly books. Looking at one specific reference used to explain the no-self doctrine in Buddhism, I realized how easy it is to locate the source of information in one click. This reference was particularly helpful because it stated the exact quote the information was taken from and indicated the page number in the book. Although this page and the specific page used contained a lot of information, the editor of this sentence was able to form one sentence that sums up what the quote was indicating. This specific sentence also contained two references which showed me how much though and research goes into each sentence that is posted on wikipedia. Overall, I found thus article to be well supported by reliable sources and the origin was this information was easy to access.

5. One of the comments on the talk page agrees with my statement that the origins/age of the samsara should be mentioned. Many of the other comments include ideas about the references this article uses. One person also pointed out a few other links that might be helpful in contributing to this article. I also found it interesting that two people pointed out unreliable sources and explained why they are unreliable. I think that figuring out whether or not a source is unreliable is the hardest part and then those sections can be edited from there. I think its good to have people constantly double checking sources and their reliability, the more eyes the better.

6. This article is part of three wikiprojects, including Buddhism, philosophy, and religion. One of these gave the article a B rating while the other two gave it a C rating. I did find it interesting, however, that the project that rated it the highest (the Buddhism wikiproject) also rated it as high importance to the project while the other two projects gave it a C ranking and rated it as mid importance to the project. The Buddhism wikiproject also states that its goal is to promote better coordination and cross referencing of pages related to Buddhism. This might explain why they rated it as having a high importance because samsara is a concept that likely comes up often in other topics related to Buddhism. It seems that the more relevant an article is to a wikiproject the more attention it is given and the higer it will be rated. If an article is of low relevance, it will likely not get much attention and wont be improved as quickly.

User Intro

Hello! My name is Anne den Otter and I am a student at the University of Miami. I am majoring in marine science and biology and minoring in marine policy and chemistry. I am currently enrolled in a course called Religious Issues in Death and Dying in order to fulfill a religion cognate. A major component of this class is to edit a Wikipedia article which has introduced me to the Wikipedia world. I look forward to editing pages and working together to add more reliable information to Wikipedia!

Comments

Week 5 @AnneD17: So which topics do you think you might do? I am a bit worried that the topics you've looked at are so esoteric that they will be hard to research. But it could be cool to focus just on hanging coffins? Hm. A tough one. The ship burial one is a bit too secular: need something closer to religion. Mortuary temple could be good. If you find super specific information, you can add it as such? Alfgarciamora (talk) 23:04, 26 February 2018 (UTC)

@Alfgarciamora: I did some more research and I think that there is a lot that can changed/added to the Religion and capital punishment page. There is a lot of information on this topic and I could even add to the pages that talk about capital punishment in specific religions. Do you think this would be better than my previous ideas?AnneD17 (talk) 16:46, 27 February 2018 (UTC)

@AnneD17: I trust your judgment: if you think that there is good stuff to fill in, then I say run with it! =) Alfgarciamora (talk) 20:07, 28 February 2018 (UTC)

Week 6 @AnneD17: Looks like you are well on your way to adding a substantial amount of content onto the page vis-a-vis religion. Please make sure to read widely so that you can use as many sources as possible. Take a look at the bibliography sections of articles, conduct reverse citations on the pieces, maybe even cite major legal cases in your piece as well (since many of the court cases could deal with religion, especially in other countries). This is a great start. Alfgarciamora (talk) 22:49, 5 March 2018 (UTC)

References

@AnneD17: Unfortunately the link you used did not work. Alfgarciamora (talk) 15:39, 19 February 2018 (UTC)