The Washington Post, July 3rd, 1997
Surely Walter Berns could have conceived a better moral argument than he offered in his column supporting capital punishment {"Vengeance? Executing McVeigh Would Be Moral," Outlook, June 8}. Revenge may be the only reason for capital punishment that makes sense -- but that does not make revenge reasonable. Mr. Berns argues that the Biblical commandment "Thou shalt not kill" is an inaccurate translation of ancient Hebrew and that the real meaning -- "Thou shalt not murder" -- allows for capital punishment. Maybe so, but that argument ignores about 2,800 years in the development of justice. Mr. ...
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