Capital punishment ignores corporate and community guilt. The 1965 statement argued that the death penalty does not address community responsibility for those conditions that may contribute to criminal behavior poverty, unemployment, injustice, and racial discrimination. Such factors may diminish but certainly do not destroy the responsibility of the individual. Yet society also bears some responsibility for directing efforts and resources toward correcting those conditions that may foster such behavior. Capital punishment perpetuates the concepts of vengeance and retaliation.
Capital punishment ignores the entire concept of rehabilitation.
The Christian faith should be concerned not with retribution, but with redemption. Any method which closes the door to all forgiveness, and to any hope of redemption, cannot stand the test of our faith. In 1966 the Commission on Christian Action also presented to General Synod a summary of its biblical study concerning capital punishment. That report noted that while Old Testament law mandated a death penalty in certain cases, a legalistic and literal application of those laws is a virtual impossibility. Furthermore, the intent and direction of many Old Testament laws was on limiting retaliation.