Theme E — Religion, Crime and Punishment
What's covered
Key facts
Buddhists view reformation positively — karma and mindful practice can transform an offender's character and reduce future harm.
Amnesty International campaigns against capital punishment worldwide — its 2023 report found 53 countries still retain it in law.
Jesus said to forgive seventy-seven times (Matthew 18).
Christian teaching views evil as a real moral force opposing God's goodness — connected to sin, the fall, and the work of redemption.
The Christian response to murder is unequivocal condemnation — life is sacred, God-given, and the Sixth Commandment is absolute.
Addiction can drive crime when people commit theft or other offences to fund their habit; UK Home Office estimates a significant share of acquisitive crime is drug-related.
Capital punishment is the formal term for execution by the state as a legal penalty.
Many religious people support community service because it allows reformation while also benefiting the community harmed by crime.
Many Christians favour reformation because forgiveness and the offer of second chances reflect Jesus' teaching (e.g. the woman caught in adultery, John 8).
"Capital punishment ethics" names the moral evaluation of the death penalty — its justifications, consequences, and alternatives.
Sample questions
A taste of the 101 questions in this topic — answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
What does the Old Testament 'eye for an eye' express?
- •Pure rehabilitation through care
- •Removal of the offender forever
- ✓Retribution — proportionate punishment
- •Total mercy for all offenders
What is the moral evaluation of capital punishment called?
- ✓capital punishment ethics
- •criminal justice theory
- •penal reform ethics
- •retributive justice framework
What does Jesus teach about forgiveness in the Lord's Prayer?
- •Forgive only after revenge
- •Forgive only family members ever
- •Forgive only once a year
- ✓Forgive us as we forgive others
Why do intentions matter in religious ethics?
- •Children's intentions never count
- •Only criminals have any intentions
- •Required only in modern UK law
- ✓Reveal moral character behind actions
In the Protestant and Jewish numbering of the Ten Commandments, which commandment forbids murder?
- •The First Commandment
- •The Fourth Commandment
- ✓The Sixth Commandment
- •The Tenth Commandment
How might poverty lead to crime?
- •Crime is required by poverty law
- ✓Desperation to provide for basic needs
- •Poverty has no link to crime ever
- •Wealthy people never commit crime
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