A question
Offline Does the judicial system in the USA use the same type of fear as Christians use in telling people they will go to hell if they do not become a Christian? It seems to me in my opinion that it does, at least somewhat. I know for me at least one reason why I would not kill somebody is because depending on what state you live in there is capital punishment. The government uses the fear of death to try to keep murder in check In my opinion it seems to me some people don't think before they commit the crime and get themselves in trouble. Criminals will try to hide their crimes from the police because they are afraid they will get caught and put in prison. The reason they try to hide their crime is because they fear the punishment. The fear of a punishment will sometimes deter somebody from committing the crime. It is a fear of what justice will do to them that keeps them away from committing the crime. If punishments did not contain a small amount of discomfort then there would be no punishment. The justice system uses that discomfort as motivating factor to keep crime at bay. If the above is true then this type of fear (fear of punishment to motivate good) is inescapable. Please tell me if I am wrong.
Thank you, figuring29
I am new to this forum; if this post is in the wrong place, please let me know where I should put it.
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Except we don't torture people or punish them for eternity. And the punishment more or less fits the crime - we don't give the death penalty for littering or jaywalking, for example.
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I think there is some validity to your statements.
These are some of the reasons that I don't think things like capital punishment and mandatory minimum sentances work (outside of the historical evidence that they don't work at preventing).
A jail system that is only designed to punish is not effective. The rate which people go back to jail is substantial in the US and has always been that way. You look at this, and other countries which are much more harsh, and you'll see that no one can stamp out crime totally despite the threats they impose.
I think, for the most part, the majority of people don't break the law and don't commit crimes is because they have been educated and taught and have formed a personal standard of right and wrong.
I also believe (and there are a lot of studies that support this) that prevenative social measures that provide the poor with housing, food, education, and medical amongst other basic needs is the greatest crime prevention tool out there.
This of course is not a 100%, though I don't believe anything is.
Welcome figuring29.
I suspect this thread belongs either in the General Conversation, Introductions and Humor forum or perhaps Atheist vs Theist.
You can move your own thread by clicking on the "edit" tab at the top of your post and then selecting the correct forum.
If you would like me to do it, I'd be happy to. Just send me a PM and I'll take care of it for you.
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