Aside from fatty foods that are somehow good for you, a laissez-faire attitude toward religion and a decidedly more relaxed approach to reproduction, the biggest cultural difference between Europe and the United States could be Europeans’ general disdain for the death penalty. Lest we forget that all 27 European Union states have abolished the practice, the entire continent has taken a day to reflect upon the barbarity of execution.


BBC:

Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis said the abolition of capital punishment was “far too important to be taken for granted”.

“We know that there are many people in Europe who continue to support the death penalty. Every time there is a particularly gruesome crime, or, in some cases, when an election is coming — there are voices calling for the death penalty to be reinstated,” he said.

“We need to go out and explain to people why the death penalty is wrong, why it has been abolished, and why it should stay abolished.”

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