Would I be willing to execute someone who had murdered a fellow human, raped a child/baby etc.
Yes, just as I was willing to kill enemy soldiers who had never harmed anyone, committed no crimes and were good, honest hardworking members of their society as well as good and loving husbands and fathers.

Anyone who would countenance the killing of enemy soldiers in time of conflict in defence of their country but would not allow the death penalty need to take stock of their priorities for you are supporting the killing of the innocent but refusing to support the killing of the enemies of your society who are in your midst.

Were I given the chance to execute the low lifes who murdered my cousins (two seperate criminals/two seperate victims) I would not hesitate any longer than it does for me to kill a wild dog on sight.

As they used to say; You've got to be cruel to be kind !

Dear Is Mise,

In a moment of seriousness, I actually respect your position created by your involvement in Korea. Unfortunately war is yet another form of unjustified state sanctioned murder.

Would I lose sleep should the most despicable murderers be executed, no, would I agree that they must be put to death, no. My point is if you look at history, those executed by the state from Jesus Christ and many before, to today, they are not in the main sadistic killers of women and children etc, but enemies of the state. There is no evidence that capital punishment is a deterrent to crime.

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According to an article on our federal parliament website :
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« There is … a somewhat inconsistent attitude to the death penalty amongst Australians. Public opinion polls reveal marked differences, depending on whether those on death row are Australians or foreigners, and whether the crimes were committed in Australia or overseas.

When it comes to domestic murder convictions, Australians are resolutely opposed to the death penalty, with 67 percent preferring imprisonment, and only 23 percent favouring capital punishment, according to a 2009 poll. Swap the crime to drug offences committed overseas, and there is suddenly less opposition to capital punishment. When a January 2015 Morgan poll asked respondents: ‘In Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Singapore and some other countries, the penalty for drug trafficking is death. If an Australian is convicted of trafficking drugs in another country and sentenced to death, in your opinion, should the penalty be carried out or not?’, 52 percent answered ‘yes’, and 48 percent ‘no’.

When terrorism offences enter the fray, views on the death penalty shift yet again. A small majority (52.5 percent) of Australians favour the death penalty for deadly terrorist acts in Australia. Former Prime Minister John Howard favoured the death penalty in Indonesia for the perpetrators of the 2002 Bali bombings, which claimed 202 lives, including 88 Australians » :

http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/FlagPost/2015/February/Attitudes_towards_the_death_penalty_at_home_and_abroad

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I oppose the death penalty as it elevates the power of the state and diminishes the value of human life. Also, by trying to balance this with more opportunity to appeal, the cost of incarceration becomes less than the cost of execution.

The death penalty could make Australia's justice system cheap if it were based on the Taliban's system, even less with the Chinese system of charging the family for the bullet and medical recycling of the corpse, but who would want that?

National service helps produce a regimented society.
david f,
That's your way of thinking. The reality is that a National Service creates & instills a sense of responsibility. Simply adhering to guidelines for the common good is not regimental !
In the few instances your assertion is correct, is because people with your mentality are in charge.
People who care are usually & literally vehemently being opposed by the do-gooder elite.
It is just so morally & technically wrong to portray common discipline for the common good as wrong !
Freedom is not to be able to do as one pleases such as most indoctrinated Uni students claim it should be, freedom is to be responsible to oneself & others so as to maintain harmony by sharing natural resources rather than hoarding ! Natural resources are there for all, products are there for making a living ! Can you tell the difference ? Can you tell the difference between a National service & Military service ? Who in your opinion should be paid more ? A bureaucrat or a producer ? My view is that the taker should get no more than the maker ! Crime would decrease if such policies were in place & there wouldn't be any need for a death penalty in the first place ! Taking a murderer's life is still less than the innocent life taken from the victim ! Crime only exists because the majority of people allow it to exist !