Although I agree that the principle of revenge is a morally abhorrent basis on which to predicate the institution of capital punishment, I feel that your pacifist stance is equally abhorrent. There are individuals who kill and destroy without conscience, and the community has the right to defend itself against them. Government sanctioned killing, whether through warfare, capital punishment, or law enforcement, is a tool of last resort, and it should be employed with the utmost reluctance and restraint, but nevertheless it is the obligation of all governments to apply the degree of force necessary to defend its citizens, up to and including killing. When and where killing is necessary is a matter of debate, but it is plain that some threats to innocent citizens can only be resisted with lethal force.

In my view, that is why capital punishment is necessary. Some criminals present a persistent and mortal threat to the safety of their communities and cannot be deterred from repeatedly killing or conspiring to kill by any means short of death. To wittingly fail to defend the lives of innocents from aggression when the means to protect them are available would be depraved and unconscionable.