Quote Originally Posted by anonymouse View Post
If killing is against the law then the State should not be above the law. It's a hypocritical double-standard if it is.
This is one of the most common arguments against capitol punishment I hear and is rather silly.

Assault and kidnapping are also against moral law, but need to be broken by the state in order to put people in jail, try people or even avert conflict. How would wars be fought without it? How would our rights be protected?

In a state, the executive branch of the law must always themselves in some sense be above the law, or governed by another set of more liberal laws than the public. It's a condition. Otherwise we have anarchy.

Laws are based on shared morals, right? So the government will always in a sense be morally hypocritical, and need to be able to break the very moral laws they are set to protect. It's very basic and if you have problems with it then you have problems with having a state at all.