January 29th, 2008

"A world so lacking in passion lacks the neccessary components of punishment. Punishment has its origins in the demand for justice, and justice is demanded by angry, morally indignant men, men who are angry when someone else is robbed, raped, or murdered, men utterly unlike Camus's Meursalt. This anger is an expression of their caring, and the just society needs citizens who care for each other, and the community of which they are parts. One of the purposes of punishment, particularly capital punishment, is to recognize the legitimacy of that righteous anger and to satisfy and thereby reward it. In this way, the death penalty, when duly or deliberately imposed, serves to strengthen the moral sentiments required by a self-governing community."
- Professor Walter Berns, "Religion and the Death Penalty" The Weekly Standard - Vol 13, Issue 20