Should cats be kept indoors to protect birds and other animals?

Let's face it.  Cats are killers when it comes to birds and small animals.  Experts say domestic cats are a major threat to many small bird species.  Yet, as human societies evolved, domestic cats played a valuable role in keeping rodents in check.  Some people believe that to deprive a cat of its natural birthright as hunter is a form of torture.
  How should we look at this problem?  We love birds.  We love cats.  Should cat owners be forced by local governments to keep their cats indoors?  If so,  is it fair to have them de-clawed to keep them from destroying  furniture?  Are there ways to give indoor cats the opportunity to express their natural hunting instincts without a tweety-bird in a cage?  How do we balance the rights of different members of the animal kingdom?
It depends on the circumstances and your feelings. When I moved to a small apartment with traffic outside I could not bear to have them gone and worry whether a car might run them over. I kept them in. I never had them declawed because it would render them helpless from most outside predators and less secure in their nature. I cut their nails instead which was brutal-since they were not ready to sit for a pedicure. For $10 I discovered I can take them to someone else to cut. Declawing cats is denaturing them. If you want to protect other wildlife cut their front nails this gives them less of an edge and allows them to climb trees for their own protection.
Cats teach us to behave. They live to be in our good graces. Like children they act out when they are angry or upset. Recognize the inconsistencies in their behavior, it tells you something. Than look at the way you are behaving. Cats help you to behave in a manner that belies consistency, if you are not they will show you.
Hannah's comments make a lot of sense. I like her "on the one hand"- "on the other" approach. Isn't that what so much of our lives interacting with the animal world entails? Balancing risks and rights among the planet's inhabitants.
I think that cats can live in or out. I would have my cat fixed so that he or she cannot produce more cats. But I have seen cats that live inside and outside and the cats that hunt do not kill that many birds anyway. It not our business to stop a cat from doing what is normal for him. If you do not want cats to kill the wildlife do not have one but leave the cat lovers alone. depending on where I would live would depend on whether the cat would be outside or not. You have to watch that they don't get runover by traffic. they are great for keeping the rodent population down.