Religious ethics, capital punishment and reconciliation in a new South Africa

The new democratic South Africa is a society that is bedevilled by violent crime. The reintroduction of the death penalty, in the view of many of the victims of violent crime and a section of the politicians, seems to be the only solution. This thesis: "Religious Ethics, Capital Punishment and Reconciliation in a New South Africa," contends that reintroducing capital punishment is not a solution to the problem of violent crime, for two principal reasons: It violates the principle of legitimate pluralism as it infringes on the right of religious and cultural freedom, and it is incompatible with the notion of reconciliation. First, the thesis discusses the justifications of punishment from the perspectives of reason and faith. Then, it goes further to look at the seriousness and causes of violent crime in the new South Africa. In addition, it presents the teachings of five religions - Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and African traditional religion - on capital punishment and reconciliation, comparatively. In the concluding part, it makes an evaluation of crime, capital punishment and reconciliation. This thesis identifies the root cause of violent crime as "poverty", defined as "lack of'. It ends, therefore, by suggesting that the solution to violent crime in the new South Africa is reconciliation as it is the solution to "poverty" as the root cause of violent crime.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Religious Studies

Year dc:date.issued

2001

Author dc:creator

• Imhanwa, Jude Onos

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Chidester, David

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8748

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/8748