History, Methods and Religious Views of Capital Punishment: An Analysis

Capital punishment was used as a means of executing criminals and political rivals since ancient times. We can trace back from eighteenth century BC, when there was an established code of King Hammurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty of 25 different criminals. As a concept, capital punishment has created an ethical dilemma and political debate among the countries around the world. Some countries have abolished death penalty, while many others are still executing capital punishment. In this paper, we discuss the history and methods used for capital punishment and also explain some religious views and interpretation on capital punishment. Furthermore, this article provides some factual information on capital punishment in the twenty-first century in the United States and other countries. Finally, this paper concludes by observing that capital punishment doesn't deter crime.