Different religious views about the death penalty

Religious education

Good and evil intentions

Reasons for crime: poverty and upbringing

Reasons for crime: mental illness and addiction

Reasons for crime: greed and hate

Opposition to an unjust law

Views about people who commit crime

Views about different types of crime

The aims of punishment

The treatment of criminals: prison and community service

The treatment of criminals: corporal punishment

Different religious views about corporal punishment

The concept of forgiveness

Different religious views about forgiveness

Ethical arguments relating to the death penalty

In this unit pupils will study ideas of crime and how people may view crime is caused. From that, they will examine different ideas of punishing crime and treating criminals focussing especially on a case study of the death penalty and ideas of forgiveness.

Religion, crime and punishment

Subjects which particular individuals may be sensitive to, eg, adoption, migration, bereavement or death, divorce, poverty, deprivation.

Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

capital punishment; legal execution by the state

Match each keyword to its correct definition.

Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit”

Exodus 21:24 “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth”

Which Bible verse tells Christians not to repay harm with more harm?

{{}} believe the death penalty is wrong believing that every person has a divine inner light.

it is wrong in all cases and should be abolished

it is acceptable for serious crimes like murder

What is the Catholic Church’s current teaching on the death penalty?

What do Natural Law thinkers say about the death penalty?

True - the Bible says ‘eye for an eye’ so Christians support it

False - most reject it due to sacredness of life and forgiveness

Most Christians support the death penalty.

Capital punishment is the {{}} ending of a person’s life as punishment for a serious crime.

Some people support the death penalty because they believe it is a {{}}.

What is one argument against the death penalty?

Which ethical theory focuses on outcomes and overall impact?

lethal injection is the most common method used

the US banned the death penalty in every state

all states in the US use the death penalty

Which statement about the death penalty in the United States is true?

the death penalty is used for the most serious crimes

Which of these statements is true about the UK?

This lesson will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Different religious views about the death penalty

Lesson outcome

Content guidance

This lesson will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.