The death penalty. Just a mention of the words can stir conflicted emotions in all of us.

We value life, but also justice. Though most of us wouldn’t want our justice system to adopt “an eye for an eye” approach, we’re sometimes OK with “a life for a life.”

A recent death row case won’t make decisions about the death penalty any easier. Robert Simon was put on death row for the brutal murder of a family in Quitman. According to the Clarion-Ledger, “the Parker family of Quitman returned from a church service on Feb. 2, 1990, to find Simon and his accomplice, Anthony Carr, burglarizing their home. After shooting Carl Parker, his wife, Bobbie Jo, 12-year-old Gregory and 9-year-old Charlotte multiple times, raping the little girl and chopping the father’s finger off to steal his wedding ring, the killers set the home on fire and left the bodies to burn. Charlotte Parker died of smoke inhalation, while the others died of their gunshot wounds.”

That’s as bad as it gets, an unthinkable horror that shocked their community and the state. Simon’s execution was stayed so the court could consider his claim that he was incompetent because of a brain injury. A judge ruled recently that Simon was faking and should be placed back in line for execution.

If ever a case warranted the death penalty, it would be this one, right? But are we comfortable with our government killing its citizens, even for the worst of crimes? What about those who are wrongly convicted? Is it worth killing an innocent person to ensure that those who are guilty are also executed? That’s a difficult question to answer.

The Bible does expressly condone the death penalty in Genesis: “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.”

That’s a pretty clear-cut endorsement of the death penalty it would seem. But not so fast, says David P. Gushee, a professor of Christian ethics and director of the Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University.

“However, the Bible does not end with Genesis 9,” Gushee wrote. “Mosaic law contains numerous death penalty provisions but rare evidence of their enforcement and plenty of evidence of divine mercy. And the New Testament heightens the depiction of divine mercy while also offering numerous tragic examples of government misuse of the power to kill.”

Also of note: there was no government yet established when Noah received that directive, so it clearly wasn’t instruction to a governing body to kill those who kill. Some even interpret the verse as a proverb, not a command. God could have simply been pointing out the obvious — men will kill other men out of revenge.

God also didn’t execute the Bible’s first murderer, Cain. This was his punishment: “And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

Capital punishment was codified later in the Bible. From Numbers 35: “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death.”

It should be noted that Mosaic law required the testimony of more than one witness. That’s a steep requirement for the death penalty. So, if we want to argue that the death penalty is appropriate because it is God’s law, we should also insist on the requirements of that law — more than one witness.

Unfortunately, our justice system doesn’t require that. To be found guilty of murder, a prosecutor need only convince a jury of 12 that a suspect is guilty. That’s done sometimes with no witnesses and very little evidence.

If our justice system was perfect, I suppose I could get behind the death penalty. As it is, it just doesn’t seem appropriate — not given the poor track record of our criminal justice system.

Luke Horton is the publisher of The Daily Leader.