Exactly.
I happen to believe in an afterlife and in reincarnation but that has nothing to do with the death penalty.
The death penalty does not reduce the # of murders.
When a criminal caught in the act knows they face the death penalty, they have nothing left to lose.
Mistakes cannot be rectified if the convicted is dead.
The appeals, appeals, appeals are expensive. It's cheaper to keep 'em. If you put a child molester/murderer in with the general population, you have to put them to death; some of the other convicts will take care of that.
For those who ARE religious, "'Vengeance is Mine,' so sayeth the Lord."