Originally Posted by
LLama
It's more oriented around the death sentence and everyday dealings to me, rather than punishment in general. I certainly believe in punishment, and I am ALL for longer jail sentences under most cases for the safety of society.
If you break a window with a baseball, is your parent going to bust a window with your face? No. If you urinate on your classmate, is your parent going to urinate on you? No. An eye for an eye is never the solution... Humane punishments will be much more affective, they teach right from wrong, but show a level of love and complexity over the rule-breaker... which is why I'm all for long jail sentences.
Remember, I did say above that the law could be taken to extremes. In Hammurabi's code of laws, sure it was revolved around death. Anything you done wrong was a reason to be put to death. But take it in its literal translation. If you kill someone you should be killed. They always said if you stole you should have your finger cut off. Good teaching or cruel? Will that person steal again? Will the person steal again who is put in jail for 10 days? I don't know, I see an eye for an eye as a good thing in some situations.