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Unlock This CourseThe lesson Capital Punishment: Arguments For and Against explained that capital punishment (the death penalty) is execution by the state as a punishment for a crime, and looked at the general reasons for and against it. This lesson asks what Buddhists teach about it.
The key text is the Dhammapada, a collection of short sayings of the Buddha. Verses 129 and 130 say, in summary, that everyone trembles at violence and everyone fears death, so a person should put themselves in the place of others and should not kill or cause another to kill. You met these verses in Buddhism: Impermanence, Compassion and Caring for the World. Here they are applied to the state. An execution is a killing, and the state carries it out through officials. Many Buddhists therefore say the verses speak against the death penalty as well as against murder.
Two more Buddhist ideas point the same way:
Now comes a contrast. Many countries with a Buddhist majority have kept the death penalty in law. Examples are Thailand and Myanmar. Sri Lanka also keeps it in law, but has not carried out executions for a very long time. This is called a moratorium, an agreed pause on doing something. Countries differ over time, so these are examples, not a complete list, and some Buddhist-majority countries have abolished it.
Why would a Buddhist country keep it? Reasons given include:
The fear of execution may stop some people committing the worst crimes.
It removes a dangerous person for ever and protects the victim's community.
Laws are made by governments, and are separate from religious teaching. Many people living there are not Buddhists.
This shows that a religion's teaching and a country's law are not always the same thing. Believers can also disagree about what the teaching means in practice.
Dhammapada 129-130: all fear death, so do not kill. The first precept. Everyone can change. Many Buddhists argue that killing a killer follows hatred, and Dhammapada verse 5 says hatred is not ended by hatred. A wrongly convicted person cannot be given back their life.
Protecting innocent people is also an act of compassion. Some Buddhists accept that a government has a duty to keep its people safe. Others say the state's decision is a matter of law, not of religion, and that the offender's own kamma follows them.
Buddhists do not all agree. Some, especially those who stress compassion for every living being, say a Buddhist should never support the death penalty, because it is a killing carried out in cold blood. Others accept that a government has to protect its people and that the choice belongs to the state, not to the Buddhist teaching. They may still hope for mercy in each case. A third group say the real task is to deal with the causes of crime, which the lesson Crime and Its Causes: Buddhist Responses traced to greed, hatred and ignorance.
The importance of these teachings is that they ask believers to see even a criminal as a person who is afraid, who can suffer and who can change. This is why many Buddhists speak out against the death penalty, even where it is the law.
(a) Identify three types of punishment. [3 marks]
(b) Choose one religion. Outline two reasons why this religion is against capital punishment. [4 marks]
(c) Explain why some countries with a Buddhist majority have kept the death penalty. [6 marks]
(a) 1. A fine (1) 2. Community service (1) 3. Imprisonment (1)
(b) Buddhism: The first precept asks Buddhists to avoid harming living beings (1), so executing a person breaks the aim of non-harm (1). Dhammapada 129-130 says all fear death and so people should not kill or cause to kill (1), which Buddhists apply to the state as well (1).
(c) One reason is deterrence: governments may think fear of execution stops the worst crimes (1), which means they keep it to protect people (1). Another is protecting society, because it removes a dangerous person for ever (1). A third is that state law is separate from religious teaching, so a government can keep the death penalty even though Buddhist teaching points against killing (1). Many people in these countries are also not Buddhists, so the law has to work for everyone (1). This shows that Buddhist teaching influences believers but does not always decide the law (1).
Statement: Buddhists should never support capital punishment. For: Dhammapada 129-130, the first precept, anyone can change, hatred is not ended by hatred. Against: protecting society, compassion for victims, state law separate from religion, countries with a Buddhist majority keep it, a humanist or other view may support it. Possible conclusion: on balance the teaching points strongly against, because the Dhammapada and the first precept forbid killing, though Buddhists disagree about what the state should do.
Always name the teaching (Dhammapada or the first precept) and then say what it means for the death penalty. Do not just state it.