George, do not get me wrong on this point, I believe in the the death penalty as laid down in God's Word. "But" it costs more in one year to support someone in prison than most God fearing people earn in a year, add 20 or 30 years to that and show me the justice in that.

Hmmm, I'm not sure I follow you...

I have spent some time around prisons, one of my dearest friends was a prison superintendent for 25 years. Here in my state they can always choose the electric chair, but either way I assure you brother; the thought of stepping out into eternity is never an easy thing to deal with for a man who has spent his days killing innocent people.

I don't think capital punishment is about "intimidation," I think it's about justice and placing a value on human life, ergo Genesis 9:6.

I hear you on that brother, and agree. So, it seems to me the cost of the PENALTY is not nearly as much as the idea of keeping them in prison for 30 or more years at tax payer's expense. So it's not really the death penalty that is the waste of time and resources, it's the LACK of the death penalty and the legal system around it. Am I reading you right?

When we originally had the death penalty in this country, specifically New England, it was law that no more than three days would pass before it done.
Today, a person can go to prison for 20-30 years before the sentence is carried out.
The longer we wait, the less threatening the sentence seems, especially to the flesh.
If there is no immediate consequence to our actions, we can continue to feel that there will be no eternal consequence to our actions.

Interesting, I didn't know that. Seems like it would be very hard to give someone a fair trial in three days... criminal cases are not always simple. I think what we are seeing today is an endless system of appeals, to me this is a reflection of our legal system and liberal judges, not a failure of capital punishment.