Few moral issues provoke the kind of fiery emotion and fervent debate that capital punishment does. In some circles, the very mention of the words death penalty is enough to set off a cross fire of opinions on the subject- as well as an on slaught of zealotry and moral confusion. At the center of all the commotion is a clash of fundamental moral values, a conflict heightened by the realization that weighing in the balance is, ultimately and tragically, the life or death of a human being.