Lesson video

Hi, my name is Miss Speakman.

We're on lesson 11 of 14, of the crime and punishment unit, and in today's lesson we'll be looking at the death penalty.

So the lesson we're about to complete contains reference to methods of execution and to the death penalty.

For some people this will be a sensitive topic.

So if that applies to you, you may want to do the rest of this lesson with a trusted adult nearby who can support you.

So in this lesson today, we'll be looking at methods of execution, and we're then going to be considering Muslim, Christian, and non-religious responses to the use of the death penalty.

Let's make sure that we are ready for our lesson.

First of all though please, we need a pen or a pencil, a piece of paper or an exercise book, and a different coloured pen for corrections.

You're also going to need a nice, clear working space.

Nice and quiet.

So T.

V.

and music off.

Phone to one side if you're not using it for the lesson, and making sure you've got a nice, clear space to work in.

That means you can concentrate.

If you need to get yourself ready by getting any of those things or clearing a space, then please pause the video now and un-pause when you're ready to move on.

Okay, so let's start off with a definition.

I'm going to use the terms capital punishment, and death penalty interchangeably.

I'm going to explain why in a moment.

Let's have a look at the definition first of all though.

Capital punishment is the government supported execution of a person found guilty of a criminal offence.

So there are some places in the world, not everywhere, some countries in the world, which will have capital punishment as a punishment for certain crimes.

So for example, in some countries one of the punishments that could be given for murder may be capital punishment, the death penalty Essentially someone is sentenced to the death penalty and the idea of a government supported executions, capital punishment, which is why they can used interchangeably.

So essentially what this means is, you cannot just kill someone and say, well because you murdered somebody I'm going to kill you.

That is still considered murder.

Capital punishment has to be done by the government.

It has to be sentenced by a judge.

So say someone went to court on suspicion of murder in America, America in some of the U.

S.

states has the death penalty.

So say somebody, murder somebody living in America, in one of those states allows the death penalty and a possible punishment that could be given is the death penalty.

It can only be done when someone is found guilty of a criminal offence.

So once someone has been found guilty, then when they're sentenced, the death penalty is a method of punishment.

It doesn't always have to be used.

So many countries, someone may get life in prison, instead of the death penalty.

And it depends on the seriousness of the crime.

In different countries you may see different crimes that carry the death penalty.

And even within different states in the U.

S.

you may see different crimes having different sentences and death penalties applies to it.

So what I'd like you to do please, is to pause the video and write down this definition, and then we will move on.

Okay, are we ready to move on then? So first of all, as I want to get your views, I think when we look at something like the death penalty, it's such a controversial topic, and there are so many different views, and it's often talked about by quite a lot of people.

I think it's really important to get our own views and to get our head around what we think personally, before we then delve into what the Christians, Muslims, non-religious people believe.

What are the details, et cetera.

So I want your views first and that's fine, they can be your view.

As long as you've explained it, there's no right or wrong answer.

We spend about three minutes on this question, telling me, do you think the death penalty should ever be used? You might say, yes in some cases, you might say no in some cases, you might say no never, or yes always.

And I want you to be able to explain your answer.

Perhaps maybe you want to make reference to certain crimes that you think should carry the death penalty, or if you don't believe that the death penalty should ever be used, then you need to be able to explain, why is that? So pause the video now please.

As I said it's completely your opinion.

As long as you've explained your answer, there's no right or wrong answer.

So pause the video, write down your thoughts for me please.

Okay, so thank you very much for writing down your thoughts.

I essentially want you to start thinking about this before we move on to anything else.

We're now going to move on to looking at what capital punishment is like in the UK, whether it's allowed, you may already know.

But then also talking through what it's been like in the UK with capital punishment.

So capital punishment in the UK is currently illegal.

We do not have capital punishment as a punishment for any crimes.

The last executions in the UK took place in 1964.

It wasn't abolished though as a punishment for crimes until 1969, for murder.

And it actually remained a legally defined punishment for treason until 1998.

Treason is where you plot against the queen, or the royal family.

I would actually always hear this from my students when I teach the death penalty.

Actually we still have the death penalty because it's for treason.

Actually it was abolished as a legally defined punishment for treason in 1998.

So although the death penalty has not been used since 1964, it was abolished for murder in 1969.

It was actually a legally defined punishment, essentially meaning the government could have given out as a punishment for treason until 1998.

But we no longer have capital punishment as a legally defined punishment for any crimes in the UK.

However, polls in the UK are done all the time, essentially getting public opinion.

Polls in the UK have suggested in the last couple of years, that around 50 to 60% of the population would like the death penalty reinstated for some crimes.

Some people might cite things like mass murder, multiple murder, murder of one person, terrorism, child abuse, as perhaps maybe reasons why they would like the death penalty reinstated.

So around 50 to 60% of the population, depending where these polls come from, seem to suggest that people would at least like to see the death penalty reinstated for some crimes.

Now, of course, those polls are a good way of understanding what public opinion is, but not everyone will be asked, sort of an idea of getting a representation of what people might believe.

Currently there doesn't seem to be much movement in the UK in terms of whether or not that will change.

It's probably unlikely that the law will change on capital punishment anytime soon.

There are many charities who are looking to try and abolish capital punishment worldwide, such as Amnesty International, who believe that it's inhumane to use the death penalty.

So we do have sort of changing views within the UK.

We could suggest maybe that a large majority of the population would consider reinstating the death penalty.

So the next thing is to look at methods of execution.

This is where it will be particularly sensitive.

So I will be talking about methods of execution that are currently used in some countries in the world.

And again, if you think this is going to be something that you'll find sensitive, it's a really good idea to have a trusted adult nearby.

So these on the slide here are some methods of execution, which are currently used by some countries in the UK and in some cases more than one country, not in the UK, in the world.

So these are all methods that some countries in the world use, and in some cases more than one country will use that method of execution.

I'm not going to go into a huge amount of detail on each of them.

I will briefly describe them, as I think then it's helpful for us understanding actually what capital punishment involves, and then also whether or not we still have the same opinion that we did before on what we're talking about.

Because I often find that when I teach the death penalty, many people just have this idea, I'm not really quite sure what they think happens, but the criminal is dead, that's because they committed a crime, yeah that's fine.

I don't really think about the methods that are used.

And then some people find that they agree with some methods, and don't agree with some other methods.

So I've chosen nine.

Let me count, one, two, three, four, five, six, nine.

I can count.

Yeah, nine methods of execution to talk about.

And then what we're going to do is think about whether we think any of those should or shouldn't be used if the death penalty, if we thought it was okay.

Okay, so hanging is a method of execution used in quite a few different countries in the world.

Essentially it's meant to be a fairly quick method of execution where when you're hanging somebody, their neck breaks and it's relatively quick, and instant, and said to be less painful for the criminal themselves.

As if they wouldn't be aware of it happening.

Firing squad is a method of execution used in a couple of countries.

I think Russia is an example of where we see the firing squad used.

Essentially a criminal will be shot by a firing squad.

So a group of people, trained shooters, and they will have within their guns, some of them will have blank rounds, and one of them will have a live round, which essentially means that the firing squad, they won't know which one of them is responsible for ending the life of that criminal.

For carrying out the actual execution.

It's meant to be so that we lessen the feeling of guilt for those in the firing squad.

A single shooter is very similar to a firing squad, except that it's a single shooter rather than a group of shooters.

So it is obvious who is responsible for executing that criminal.

Now remember we talk about those people who are employed to execute criminals will be employed by the government in this case.

So what they are doing is carrying out their job and they can't be accused of murder or anything like that for it, because what they're doing is carrying out a government supported execution.

In some countries, stoning is a method of execution.

We often hear about stoning in a Biblical and Quranic examples.

It's a traditional, old method of execution.

Someone is buried up to their neck in the ground or in dirt, and stones will be thrown at that person's head and neck.

And in some specific methods of execution for stoning, the stones can't be too little or too big, so that the person doesn't die too quickly or too slowly.

In this type of execution too, It's common for the victim, or the victim's family to also take part in this method of execution.

So it's a very public method of execution.

The lethal injection is probably the most well known method of execution.

It's the one used by the majority of the U.

S.

states.

Essentially it's where someone is injected with a chemical, which stops their breathing, stops their heart.

In some cases, two doctors will administer the drugs.

One of them will be the actual drugs that put the criminal to sleep and stop their heart.

And one of them will be a fake so that they're not, they don't know which person is the one who administered the fatal dose.

There has been some controversy in the U.

S.

states recently with some of those drugs not working properly.

So for awhile America had to halt some executions while they discovered why those drugs weren't working properly.

In some countries beheading is a method of execution.

The idea is the executioner has a sharp sword and removes the head in one strike.

The gas chamber is a method of execution in some U.

S.

states.

When I say it's a method of execution, it's what we call a secondary method of execution.

So the U.

S.

states that have the death penalty will have a primary method of execution, which is the one that they would essentially sentence all criminals to if they're sentenced to the death penalty.

And secondary method of executions, which can be used if the criminal specifically asks for that method of execution, or if there's some reason why that primary method of execution won't be suitable for that prisoner.

So for the gas chamber, this is a method of execution, which is a secondary method in some U.

S.

states.

Essentially where they are locked in a room, and they have to inhale a gas, which will suffocate them.

What many people disagree with this, is that it's very similar, if not very, very similar to how the Jews were, and other minority groups were treated by the Nazis in the Holocaust.

And we have electrocution.

You might know as the electric chair, which is a secondary method of execution again in some U.

S.

states.

Essentially a high voltage of electricity is passed through the bodies, that it stops the heart, and stops brain activity.

And then one country in the world, I think it's Iran, uses falling from height as a method of execution.

Essentially pushing a criminal from a very, very high up place, so they fall to their death.

So of course these are in any circumstances, they're not very nice to talk about, but it is important for us to think about whether or not we think these are the right sorts of methods of execution to use.

We may not agree with the death penalty.

You may think, I don't agree with any of those.

I don't agree the death penalty at all.

That's absolutely fine, it's up to you what you believe about the death penalty and it's use.

But I do want us to consider, if it were to be used as a way of treating criminals, and to sentence criminals to a punishment, which ones seem to be the best of them to use? Which one seems to be the most favourable method among them? Sorry, I'm just going to disappear for this.

What I would like you to consider, spend about four minutes on this.

If the death penalty were to be used, which do you think is the most acceptable method? And the least acceptable method, explaining your answer.

As I said, I don't expect you to say that you definitely agree with it.

I just want you to think if it were to be used, which one do you think would be the most acceptable method? But also the least acceptable method.

Make sure you explain your answer in full, please.

So I want you to pause the video, have a go at that.

You can see the list is there on the right hand side.

Then un-pause when you are ready to move on, please.

What we're now going to do, is we're going to consider Christian arguments for the death penalty.

So we're going to look at first of all, a verse, which we have considered before from Exodus, which is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for hand, a foot for a foot.

Now this is used to talk about this idea of retribution, getting payback, or having the same punishment as what's been done to you.

This idea of it should match the severity of the crime committed.

So many Christians would say that the death penalty is justifiable retribution.

So an allowed method of retribution for payback, for something like murder.

So many Christians would say that this first doesn't demand the death penalty.

It doesn't say you have to do this, but that is the maximum penalty for certain crimes.

Some Christians say this is clearly saying that the death penalty can be used in very, very difficult situations for serious crimes.

Some Christians would say as well, that is a good form of deterrence.

That people won't want to have their life ended, so they will not want to commit certain crimes.

So for example, this idea that in Jesus's time, crucifixion was a public method of execution.

The Romans used to put people off committing crimes, and it was very public.

As the Christians say, people don't want to suffer that way, so it's a good method of deterrence.

So some Christians may say that.

And I'm also talk about the sanctity of life.

And now this is really interesting if perhaps, you know what sanctity of life is, and you might think, why does Miss Speakman put it there? Was something going on? Is she getting confused? Not getting confused.

The sanctity of life is the idea within Christianity that all life is sacred, as it's a gift from God, and therefore needs to be protected.

Now thinking with the sanctity of life, some Christians might apply this quite rightly and say, this means that all lives should be protected.

No one should have their life ended, et cetera.

However, some Christians may use it to argue that in order to protect life, sometimes we may have to take the life of a guilty person.

So for example, there was a very well-known murderer called Ted Bundy, who killed a large number of women.

This perhaps, may be not even clear how many people he did actually murder.

He went to prison.

He managed to escape multiple times, and then after he escaped, then killed even more women.

And so some Christians might argue in this case, in order to preserve the sanctity of life, to protect more lives, than perhaps maybe we have to take the life of guilty person.

So we could use the sanctity of life within Christianity to suggest that some Christians may allow these, the death penalty, if it's going to save the life of a large number or group of people.

I'm going to ask you some quick fire questions now.

These types of questions are a really good way of just checking understanding.

So I ask you a question, I give you two possible answers, I count you down from three, then I expect you to point to your screen, which one you think is the correct answer, or say it out loud.

We check our answers, we move on, and we do another one.

It's a really good way of just not having to commit to anything, to writing anything on paper, and really quickly testing your understanding.

It's a really good way of highlighting if there's anything that you still want to go over, and go back to early to date.

So I'm going to disappear for that.

Let's have a go.

The sanctity of life can be used to justify the death penalty.

Is that true or false? Three, two, one.

Good, that is true.

We might say that sanctity of life argues that we should protect life, and therefore in order to protect more lives, sometimes the death penalty should be used.

An eye for an eye demands the death penalty.

Is that true or false? Three, two, one.

That's false.

It doesn't demand the death penalty, but many Christians say it allows for the death penalty to be used as a form of justifiable retribution.

Well done if you've got both of those correct, We're now going to move on to Christian views against the death penalty.

While some Christians may agree with the use of the death penalty, we could perhaps argue there is more in Christianity to suggest that the death penalty should not be used.

Many Christians would turn to the teachings of Jesus, who said, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

And say the main message here from Jesus is not about retribution, or payback, or about retaliation, but for those who persecute you, for those who treat you horribly with the most serious offences, you should pray for them.

You should love them.

You should look to reform them.

So many Christians would say that the response to someone who's committed such a serious offence should not be the death penalty, but reform to follow the teachings of Jesus that seemed to promote compassionate responses to people who commit crimes.

We also see leaders within the church, who seemed to preach that the death penalty should not be used.

Pope Francis, the Pope, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church at the moment, said that the death penalty is contrary to the gospel.

So essentially said that the message of the Gospel does not promote the idea of the death penalty, that they are in opposite to each other, they're contrasting each other.

So we could say then that many Christians, especially the Roman Catholic Church, would argue that the death penalty shouldn't be used.

Many Christians would point to the idea that there's no chance of reformation if somebody is sentenced to the death penalty.

You might sentence someone to the death penalty and they've never been given a chance to change their behaviour, or to think about what they did is wrong, et cetera.

And since the main message of Christianity for many Christians, is this idea of reform, helping, compassionate, help for one another, that the idea of reform is so important, the death penalty takes away that chance.

And then many Christians also point to the idea of situation ethics.

Now situation ethics is a theory which was founded in the 1960s, which essentially says, the most loving thing to do is the good thing, in every situation.

Based on what we call agape love, unconditional, self-sacrificial love.

The same sort of love that God shows to humans.

And many people who follow situation ethics, and use this as a theory of deciding what's right or wrong, when we think about ethics would say that agape love should be showing that you're willing to help reform somebody, to change their behaviour, giving them a second chance, giving them the best sort of chance to think about what they did was wrong, et cetera, and that ending their life doesn't give that chance of reform.

And therefore isn't showing agape love.

It's not showing unconditional love.

So we could use that to suggest that some Christians say the death penalty shouldn't be used.

You probably find that many Christians, more than others would say that the death penalty shouldn't be used just because it seems to be something that's more in line with the teachings of the Bible.

But that does not mean we won't find Christians who of course do agree with the use of the death penalty.

So again, we're going to do some multiple choice quickfire questions.

Then after that, we'll start looking at Islamic views on the death penalty, let's go.

Death penalty allows reformation to take place.

Is that true or false? Three, two, one.

That is false.

Of course, if someone has been sentenced to the death penalty and is executed, they then can't change their behaviour afterwards.

Many Christians believe Jesus preached about love and forgiveness.

Is that true or false? Three, two, one.

Good, that is true.

Many Christians believe Jesus preached this more than anything else.

So instead of retribution, instead of deterrence, preach about love, forgiveness, reformation.

Well done if you've got both those correct.

Let's now look at Islam.

So, let me just appear.

Where am I? There I am, okay.

So Islamic arguments for the death penalty then.

We find within Shariah law, Islamic law, that the death penalty is allowed for some crimes.

So for example, some practises, some punishments for certain crimes, such as the death penalty, we find for what we call forgivable and unforgivable crimes.

So things like adultery, and shirk, and murder can carry the death penalty.

In Islamic countries where Shariah law is practised, if someone is found guilty of murder, then that is the punishment they can receive up to.

So the idea is that for these forgivable crimes, bodily harm and murder, you can receive up to the same thing committed to you.

So for murder, the punishment is up to execution, and it's up to the victim's family to decide what they'd like to happen.

So the victim's family can decide either to sentence them to the death penalty and carry through the execution, or ask for compensation, or life in prison.

If they receive compensation, it's known often as blood money.

So in Shariah law it is a common practise to carry out execution for certain crimes.

And so we could say that many Muslims, especially those living Islamic countries, would say that it's perfectly reasonable to use the death penalty as it's a form of retribution, a form of deterrence, justifiable retribution for whatever has been done to somebody else.

In the Quran we can also see a clear reference to the death penalty.

It says here, do not kill the soul, which Allah has forbidden to be killed, except by legal right.

And you might say, okay, well surely that shows that you should not be killing people.

That you can't use the death penalty.

That bit at the end is really important where it says except by legal right.

The Quran sets out three ways where you can justifiably end a life.

Those are abortion, if the mother's life's at risk.

Lesser jihad, which is a one part of the idea that you should be fighting to protect the Muslim society.

So killing in war, lesser jihad.

And then capital punishment.

So in Islam it specifies you shouldn't be ending life because Allah has forbidden you because everyone has been created by Allah, apart from these three circumstances, abortion if the mother's life is at risk, lesser jihad, capital punishment.

Some say the Quran is quite clear that there is a right to end a life when it comes to capital punishment.

We can also see examples in Hadith's, where Muhammad seemed to support the stoning of those involved in adultery.

And it is important for us to recognise here that for the death penalty to be carried out, according to Islamic law, you have to have a certain amount of witnesses, or a certain amount of evidence for someone committing that crime.

So for example with theft, in order to have your hand cut off as in retribution for committing theft, you have to have a load of different things that all come together, like two male witnesses.

The value of the item has to be taken into account, the intention, the age of the person, where the item was kept, et cetera, et cetera.

With adultery, you need to have the testimony of three or four witnesses to the act taking place.

So there is a high level of proof needed, but there are examples of Hadith's where Muhammad seems to support the stoning for those involved in adultery.

So some of us have to say look, if the Quran specifies it's allowed, and Mohammad himself even seemed to support the idea of stoning for adultery, then the death penalty can be used within Islam.

So we'll do some multiple choice quickfire questions again, then we'll move on to Islamic arguments against.

Shariah law allows the death penalty for certain crimes.

Is that true or false? Three, two, one.

Good, that is true.

Except by legal right, includes the death penalty.

Is that true or false? Three, two, one.

Good, that is true.

So it allows the death penalty alongside abortion if the mother's life's at risk, and lesser jihad.

Well done if you've got both of those correct.

We'll now have a look at Islamic arguments against the death penalty.

We're going to just wait for my head to pop up.

It takes so long doesn't it? There we go.

So Islamic arguments against the death penalty.

Now there's a certain group within Islam called the Muslim Peace Fellowship, which looks to try and promote peace in Islam, and the idea of pacifism.

So the use of nonviolence.

So they'd be against the use of violence.

Now the Muslim Peace Fellowship would say that they believe the Quran has been misinterpreted on verses that seem to suggest the death penalty is okay.

And they say that actually, because the word Islam means peace, coming from the root salaam, that peace and submission should be focused on above all else.

And therefore the death penalty shouldn't be used.

In order to be peaceful we should not sentence anybody to death, as they are all part of Allah's creation.

People may also point within Islam to Muhammad being reluctant to use violence in the Battle of Badr.

Now this is a huge battle.

I think it's the only battle mentioned in the Quran by name.

And essentially in this battle, Muhammad killed as little soldiers as possible in order to win.

So around 70 soldiers, from a large, large army.

And many people would also point to the idea that Muslim, Muhammad and his followers were themselves pacifists until they were ordered to fight by Allah, to protect the faith.

So many Muslims would say, actually Muhammad was reluctant to use violence, unless it was something that commanded by Allah.

And so therefore they should have the same idea.

That they should be reluctant to use violence, including the death penalty.

And that other methods of punishment are just as useful in terms of deterring people, such as life in prison.

So let's do some quick fire questions again, and then we will move onto bringing this together, looking at non-religious views, et cetera.

Okay.

Many Muslims believe Muhammad was reluctant to use violence.

Is that true or false? Three, two, one.

Good, that is true.

Many Muslims do believe Muhammad was reluctant to use violence.

Would use the Battle of Badr as an example.

All Muslims believe the Quran has been misinterpreted on the death penalty.

Is that true or false? Three, two, one.

False, the Muslim Peace Fellowship do believe this, but not all Muslims will believe it's been misinterpreted.

Many Muslims of course would say that as it's from Allah, the good word, the Quran, it cannot be misinterpreted in that way.

So what we're now going to move onto is bringing this all together by completing some questions.

Then afterwards going to have a look at non-religious views on the death penalty.

So what I'd like you to do is to pause the video on the next slide, please, to complete your task.

There'll be a number of questions for you to complete.

I'll give you instructions when we are there.

Then we'll look through corrections together.

So you've got eight questions here that I'd like you to answer.

All based on Christian and Muslim views on the death penalty.

So, does an eye for an eye demand the death penalty.

I want you to explain that.

Explain how the sanctity of life may justify the death penalty.

What do many Christians believe Jesus preached with regards to treatment of others? Explain how situation ethics can be used to oppose the death penalty.

Does Shariah law allow the death penalty? In the verse, except by legal right, what are the three justifiable reasons for ending a life? What does the word Islam mean? And what has this got to do with the death penalty? And explain how the Battle of Badr may suggest the death penalty is wrong.

So what I'd like you do please is to pause the video, write out the questions, and write out an answer.

And un-pause when you're ready to go through corrections please.

Okay, please have your different coloured pen out ready for corrections.

If you're not quite done, then rewind the video and carry on with the questions, and then come back to us when you are ready.

Let's make sure we've got all the correct answers and that we are therefore ready to move on.

The first four answers, an eye for an eye demands the death penalty.

No, so many Christians believe this teaching allows the death penalty, but doesn't demand it.

The sanctity of life may justify the death penalty because the sanctity of life is that all life is sacred and should be protected.

Some Christians may say to protect more lives, a criminal should be executed.

For the third question, many believed Jesus's main teaching were about love, forgiveness, reformation.

Situation ethics says, perform the most loving action based on agape love.

It may not be seen as loving to execute a criminal instead of reforming them.

What I'd like you to do is to pause the video here and make any corrections if you need to.

And then un-pause when we're ready to look through the next four answers.

Does Shariah law allow the death penalty? Yes, it's a set punishment for some forgivable and unforgivable crimes.

Except by legal rights, allows the ending of a life with abortion, if the mother's life's at risk, lesser jihad, and capital punishment.

The word Islam means peace.

Some say it isn't peaceful to execute a criminal.

That they should encourage mercy.

And in the Battle of Badr, the battle Muhammad was reluctant to use violence and killed as few enemies as possible.

Following Muhammad's example, some believe they should be reluctant to respond violently.

Again if you need to make any corrections, please do so now by pausing the video.

Then after this we will look at non-religious views on the death penalty.

So I'm just going to appear here.

Again it's taking a while.

Okay, so when we're looking at non-religious views, there's a huge scope of different ideas within non-religious groups.

Some will agree with the death penalty.

Some will disagree.

Some will agree with it for the use in some cases, et cetera, et cetera.

There are so many different groups it's really hard to say what non-religious people would say overall, but we're going to go specifically with utilitarianism, which is an ethical theory.

It says, the good thing to do is what brings the most happiness to the most number of people.

The greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.

So we need to think, first of all, when we're applying utilitarianism to the death penalty, does it promote happiness? You need to think about it in terms of, does it protect society using the death penalty? Is it an effective deterrent? Is it a good form of retribution? What should the main aim of punishment be? Even within utilitarianism, it could be really, really hard to talk about what the general view would be.

Some may argue, that it actually isn't a very good method of deterrence.

So for example, in the U.

S.

which does use the death penalty, they have a higher offending rate in the country, as opposed to a place like Denmark or Norway, which has a very different prison system.

So for example in Denmark, prisoners are given a living wage.

They are taught, they're given an education.

They are allowed to live with young children, if they have young children, who would then go out for school.

That their rooms have, actually very nice rooms, that they can't see barbed wire, that it'll be like high in a place on the hills.

It's like you see greenery, et cetera.

That they may be allowed to leave, and that prison sentences might not be anything longer than six months.

They have a lower offending rate in those countries than they do those with death penalty.

Some people might say actually, does it cause the greatest happiness for everybody to have the death penalty? Does it actually work as a deterrence? However some might say it protects society, that people feel like they have had something, someone removed from society that could pose a threat to people, and that they think it could work as a deterrence.

So there may be a large number of people who believe, yes it does protect society and therefore should be used.

and therefore produces the greatest happiness.

We could also talk about miscarriages of justice.

This is where it's been found years later after someone's been executed, that they were actually innocent.

We have a lot of new technology, which allows us to look better into idea of DNA.

and testing DNA.

And it has been found that many people were executed that weren't actually guilty.

And that still can happen now, it still has happened now that people have been in prison for years and they find them to be innocent.

So many people might argue, actually it doesn't seem to be right to have the death penalty, because what if someone turns out to be innocent.

But many people might argue when it's absolutely certain that someone has committed a crime and they are posing a threat to society that perhaps, maybe we should use the death penalty.

So there's a huge range of views.

As we say, there's no one non-religious view, but of course there may be different reasons behind why they have these views.

Let's do some multiple choice quickfire questions then, just to round off our lesson on the death penalty, and to see what we have learned.

So utilitarianism could be used to support the use of the death penalty.

Is that true or false? Three, two, one.

Good, that is true.

All non-religious people will agree with the use of the death penalty.

Is that true or false? Three, two, one.

That is false.

Some believe the use of the death penalty is a good deterrent.

True or false? Three, two, one.

Yeah, that is true.

Some will believe is a good deterrent and some will not.

There have been cases of miscarriages of justice.

True or false? Three, two, one.

Yes that is true.

This means that someone has been found to be innocent after their execution has taken place.

Well done if you've got all of those, correct.

Thanks for waiting for me to appear.

Good, so I want to say huge, huge, thank you for taking part in this lesson today.

I personally find the issue of capital punishment really interesting to look at because there's just such a wide range of views, but I know it's also a very difficult topic to look at.

So I want to thank you so much for taking part, for listening so intently, for working hard, and dealing with this very difficult topic which often can be very sensitive.

So well done again for working so hard.

Looking forward to seeing you again soon.

Thank you, goodbye.