Let’s have the death penalty if there is no God

An incredible story from the Independent about the Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte who has called for the death penalty in his country to be reinstated, claiming growing atheism and agnosticism means people have a lack of fear and respect for the law.

The death penalty was officially abolished in the largely Catholic country in 2006, but Mr Duterte said that ‘if God doesn’t exist’, capital punishment is the only way to ensure justice for the victims of terrible crimes. Speaking in Manila, Mr Duterte also questioned God’s existence himself and addressed God directly in his speech, asking “where are you?”

He said: “Every president along the way didn’t impose it only because the Catholic Church and all the bleeding hearts would say that only God could kill. But what if there is no God?”

He pointed at Isis and the plight of women and children in war-torn Syria, who he said are burned if they refuse to have sex with Isis militants.

“When a one-year-old baby, 18-months-old baby is taken from the mother’s arms brought under a jeep and raped and killed. So where is God? My God, where are you?” asked Mr Duterte. “It’s not enough to say that at the end of the world, he will judge the living and the dead. What would be the purpose of all of that if the heartaches, sorrows and agony have already been inflicted in this world?” Mr Duterte said.