Should rapist be put behind bars for the rest of their life?

It's because, according to contemporary wisdom, rapists are the least reformable of criminals. It's a type of psychosis and at this point in human history it's not curable.

Most murders, for example, are crimes of passion. Once a person commits murder, even if he doesn't feel the guilt and shame, the odds of him ever feeling that strongly again are pretty low.

But rape, as someone mentioned earlier, is not a crime of desire or a crime of sex or even of passion, it's a crime of violence. Performed by violent people. I've seen the point made above stressed, that castration of violators does not stop them, it just makes it a little more difficult. Instead of using their own organ they'll use a stick or something like that.

The odds are extremely high that a rapist will repeat his crime. If you let him back out into society, it's very likely that he'll just do it again to somebody else. Therefore the only sure way to prevent that is either to execute him or keep him locked up. I personally prefer execution--even though in almost all other cases I am opposed to capital punishment--because I know there's a good chance that somewhere along the way a bureaucratic error or a political negotiation or a well-meaning judge will let him out even if he's labeled a "lifer." So execution is the only option to make sure my wife (and I for that matter) am protected from him.

I'm sorry for the small percentage of rapists who really are capable of reforming. Well no, I'm not really. Rape is a hideous crime that tends to leave its victims emotionally scarred for life, so I don't have any compunctions about curtailing the perps' freedom for the rest of their lives as long as its for a good cause.

I'm careful not to include things like date rape and sick gang ceremonies with this. I'd judge those cases one at a time and accept evidence that the violators were just young and mixed up or drunk or under peer pressure and perhaps could be trusted to reform.

Show me a reliable way to "cure" rapists and I'll toss them back in the same pot with the carjackers.

Pedophiles aren't much different from other sex criminals. Except for the fact that many of them try to avoid violence per se and believe they have the "consent" of their victims. They're still psychotic.