The majority of their evidence comes from the Old Testament of the Bible in which it recommends the use of capital punishment for a certain number of crimes. There are also other people that quote the Sixth Commandment which reads, "Thou Shall Not Commit Murder." However, these interpretations of various passages from the either the Bible or the Commandments are often quoted out of context which then corrupts the sympathetic attitude of Judaism and Christianity, in which they both clearly focuses on redemption and forgiveness, and urge humanity to be effective and just in dealing with crime and violence in society. .
Those who use the Bible to support the death penalty are pretty much alone since almost all religious groups in the United States see executions as immoral. These churches that believe in executions immorality are, the American Baptist Church, American Jewish Congress, American Catholic Council, Christian reformed Church, Episcopal Church, Lutheran Church in America, Mennonite General Conference, National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, Northern Ecumenical Council, Presbyterian Church, Reformed Church of America, Unitarian/Universalist Association, United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church (Death Penalty Focus). Those who argue that the death penalty is an ethical way to deal with societies "bad seeds" often state that great American thinkers and leaders such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Kant, Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Mill all supported the death penalty (Koch 324). But what people fail to remember is that Washington and Jefferson, both supported slavery as well and surely, the advice of someone who has clearly demonstrated a total disregard and lack of respect for the value of a human life cannot and should not even be brought up in such an argument as capital punishment. .