Curiously, that is one of the arguments against abortion in those Christian circles that emphasize original sin. Maybe I just imprinted too heavily on Hamlet in HS. On the other hand, in HS the issue troubled me no more than it did him (if for different reasons;) more likely I have taken Ezekiel 18 and 33 too much to heart. Executions too often expose a very un-Christian spite in too many who know better. If life is sacred, life is sacred; killing can be justified to prevent other deaths, injury, possibly even to protect property, but where not the lesser of two evils it strikes me as simply evil. I am not saying convicts should have cable TV and the like (after all, I would send the worst criminals to Devils Island or Alcatraz,) just that executions produce no gain, and significant loss, if only to our own decency.

There is also the real and greivous harm in executing the innocent, and John Adams' observation that it imperils all security by jeopardizing public respect for rule of law, but that is not a religious issue.