I am not saying I disagree with you, but I think the general depravity of society makes it hard for us to consider any alternative. I will give an example of this in a second. It is funny that most conservatives who are for the death penalty should really be the ones to acknowledge forgiveness. For me the idea of redemption comes into play a lot. I also think that death penalty cases are targeted on the wrong offenses. Here is my example. I can wrap my head around someone killing another person and later feeling remorse about that and truly repenting and thus not receiving the death penalty much more than the headline I saw the other day where a guy sexually assaulted a sixteen month old baby. Again, I don't really support the death penalty, I think there is a God that will handle punishments at the appointed time. It is thought provoking though.