Urquhart:

Read the rest of Exodus, and get back to me with a biblical verdict on the death penalty.

U: That's Weak

No kidding...

Now, let me expand on why I have an issue with the “Christianity” in this statement: In two earlier rulings, Reinhart and Paez overturned the death sentence for Belmontes on the grounds jurors may have thought they could not consider his conversion to Christianity in prison as a reason for leniency.

If you follow this link to Major Religions of the World Ranked by Number of Adherents and substitute any other “religion” on that list (number two would be a picnic, in this thought exercise), do you honestly believe one could make the same sort of statement, and have the same outcome expectancy?

(Disclaimer: Judaism might help a bit, maybe… no-one is too pissed off at the Unitarian’s – you might pass as a Christian, in a crunch - and Scientology does have some star power.)

I would word the sentence this way: In two earlier rulings, Reinhart and Paez overturned the death sentence for Belmontes on the grounds jurors may have thought they could not consider his rehabilitation in prison as a reason for leniency.

That is much more inclusive, and worth considering, I think, in a society that is not barbaric. As I stated before, I am opposed to the death penalty, just on general principal.