Death Penalty Thoughts
Lately many men and women condemned to die in prisons here in the United States have been arguing that lethal injection, the preferred method of execution in most states, is too painful. What we hear is their cries for relief from the possibility of suffering. Many of these inmates committed unspeakable crimes - causing extreme pain and prolonged suffering to their victims and the families who are left behind.
The human side of me wants to scream "SO WHAT?" Should we as a society be looking into "kinder, gentler" ways to kill these people? Maybe we need to bring back gas chambers and electric chairs. What's wrong with hanging or the firing squad? How can a country that spends billions of dollars on video games, where killing another is the point, object to firing squads?
The death penalty as carried out by the state has several problems. First, it fails to stop others from committing the same crime. Secondly, by the time the execution takes place many years have passed and most of those who might be deterred pay no attention. It turns out to be too little, too late. If it isn't a deterrent then what purpose does it serve? Is vengeance a good enough reason to kill someone?
What was God's plan? Exodus 20:13 - "You shall not murder. " seems clear enough. Yet, in Exodus 22:18 He tells us, "Do not allow a sorceress to live." What is the difference here? Is it that we are not personally to kill someone but the authorities have the right?
Again, let's look at God's original plan. Stoning was a community effort - not the governments - carried out immediately. When one was found to have violated the LAW of GOD (see John 8 - the woman who had committed adultery was brought to Him for condemnation) the entire community gathered to participate in the stoning (See also Acts 7:54-60 - the Stoning of Stephen). Would anyone argue that stoning was anything but "cruel and unusual"?
This is how capital punishment was designed under the LAW - immediate and personal. Yet, Jesus proclaims that He has come to fulfill the LAW (Matthew 5:17). Does this mean we are to take capital punishment back many centuries and carry it out ourselves? Not according to Jesus. If you continue to read further in Matthew 5 you will see that we are called to stand above - to be ready to forgive. So much for the human side of me.
Capital punishment seems like such a simple issue. If only one innocent person is saved from execution it is worth stopping the practice. More to the point, though, we Christians are called to make this a better world by our actions here. We are also called to lead those who commit murder to repentence so that they can spend an eternity with God.
If we carry out the Great Commission we might be able to stop some from turning down the road that leads them to kill another. In today's news I read of a man in Alabama who threw all 4 of his children off a bridge to certain death. In today's news I read of a drifter in Georgia who killed a hitchhiker. In today's news I read of 4 children found dead in an apartment in Washington, DC. The list goes on and on. These lives could have been saved if those who did the killings were shown how their eternal lives could be saved.
In Luke 23:43 Jesus offers eternal life to a man being executed beside Him. "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." It is never too late. The death penalty for our corrupt, earthly bodies doesn't mean the end. Everyone has an eternity to live. We are to offer that eternity in Heaven. We have the opportunity to short circuit lives of crime and to negate the true effects of capital punishment - an eternity separated from God.
Wilk
The human side of me wants to scream "SO WHAT?" Should we as a society be looking into "kinder, gentler" ways to kill these people? Maybe we need to bring back gas chambers and electric chairs. What's wrong with hanging or the firing squad? How can a country that spends billions of dollars on video games, where killing another is the point, object to firing squads?
The death penalty as carried out by the state has several problems. First, it fails to stop others from committing the same crime. Secondly, by the time the execution takes place many years have passed and most of those who might be deterred pay no attention. It turns out to be too little, too late. If it isn't a deterrent then what purpose does it serve? Is vengeance a good enough reason to kill someone?
What was God's plan? Exodus 20:13 - "You shall not murder. " seems clear enough. Yet, in Exodus 22:18 He tells us, "Do not allow a sorceress to live." What is the difference here? Is it that we are not personally to kill someone but the authorities have the right?
Again, let's look at God's original plan. Stoning was a community effort - not the governments - carried out immediately. When one was found to have violated the LAW of GOD (see John 8 - the woman who had committed adultery was brought to Him for condemnation) the entire community gathered to participate in the stoning (See also Acts 7:54-60 - the Stoning of Stephen). Would anyone argue that stoning was anything but "cruel and unusual"?
This is how capital punishment was designed under the LAW - immediate and personal. Yet, Jesus proclaims that He has come to fulfill the LAW (Matthew 5:17). Does this mean we are to take capital punishment back many centuries and carry it out ourselves? Not according to Jesus. If you continue to read further in Matthew 5 you will see that we are called to stand above - to be ready to forgive. So much for the human side of me.
Capital punishment seems like such a simple issue. If only one innocent person is saved from execution it is worth stopping the practice. More to the point, though, we Christians are called to make this a better world by our actions here. We are also called to lead those who commit murder to repentence so that they can spend an eternity with God.
If we carry out the Great Commission we might be able to stop some from turning down the road that leads them to kill another. In today's news I read of a man in Alabama who threw all 4 of his children off a bridge to certain death. In today's news I read of a drifter in Georgia who killed a hitchhiker. In today's news I read of 4 children found dead in an apartment in Washington, DC. The list goes on and on. These lives could have been saved if those who did the killings were shown how their eternal lives could be saved.
In Luke 23:43 Jesus offers eternal life to a man being executed beside Him. "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." It is never too late. The death penalty for our corrupt, earthly bodies doesn't mean the end. Everyone has an eternity to live. We are to offer that eternity in Heaven. We have the opportunity to short circuit lives of crime and to negate the true effects of capital punishment - an eternity separated from God.
Wilk
posted by Wilk | 12:51 PM
4 Comments:
Dear Wilk,
That is a very nicely argued essay on the death penalty. It balances compassion and a desire to avert suffering with the importance of helping those who may turn into killers. But I often wonder whether prison conversions are genuine and sustainable. If, on faith, we believe they are, then shouldn't we be freeing those people after their souls have been saved? Yet somehow, i don't seem to want that.
The human side of us always wants to see punishment carried out completely. Political candidates have to make tough statements against crime and criminals. This is the human condition - as you said, "I don't seem to want that."
Chuck Colson speaks of the difficulty he had being accepted by both Christians and his old friends. No one could believe his conversion. Yet, where better to come to grips with what the LORD wants of your life than in a place where all is taken from you. What better place to find true freedom than in a place with no human freedom.
It isn't up to us to believe someone's conversion. The LORD knows for certain what is in the heart. Our job is to deliver the message. Our job is to plant the seed. Our job is to prepare the field. God's job is to make the seed grow.
Remember, you can only get one person into Heaven. You can spread the Good News and lead others to make the commitment to get themselves in but you are not responsible for their choices - only your own.
It is my prayer that everyone who is locked away will be touched by the Holy Spirit. The human side of me knows, from experience, that this is not going to happen. That doesn't stop me from praying that it will, though. I'll keep nagging God to convert everyone. Unless and until a person proves that they really aren't a true believer I can't condemn them (though we all do).
We need to leave condemnation to the only one who knows the entire story. John 3:17 tells us that Jesus did not come into this world to condemn it but to save it.
Wilk
Thanks for the reply. Do you know that other religions besides Christianity -- for example, Buddhism -- encourage people to witness for their faith and to share it with others, and also pray and do what they can to save the world? What kind of interfaith connections does the Church of the Brethren have? Just wondering. . . .
I was aware that Christianity (and, of course, Judaism) were not the only world religions who call their followers to evangelize and work to improve the world.
The real question is what can Buddha do with the prayers? I do not believe that prayers to anyone but the One True God - YAHWEH - are going to be heard and answered.
To learn more about the Church of the Brethren and our affiliations take a look at http://www.brethren.org/
Wilk
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