Mousethief - yeah, you're right about that Bible quote...by what if it means that the person who sheds blood will have their own blood shed through the workings of karma and reincarnation...not necessarily this year or this life...but in a later life. Bingo! No escape for the wicked.

The very early Christian church did believe in reincarnation. Later, in Constantinople, an assembly of bishops decided to expunge that particular teaching from the Christian religion.

So, vengeance IS in fact, the business of "the Lord" (or the Lady), then, not of the state and not of you and me. Our business is to effectively protect other people from the violent, not to take vengeance upon the perpetrator.

You can stop violence without executing people.

An alternate point of view to consider...

- LH