6 Responses to “?? the death penalty ??”

1. Betsy Hart Says:
   February 27th, 2006 at 3:01 pm

   Don, I’ve never liked the deterrance argument either, but not because we don’t know whether the the death penalty serves as one. (There are studies that show that even controlling for other factors, where the death penalty is “common” and enforced, murder rates are lower.)

   My concern is that our criminal justice system should not be about “what works,” but about justice. Killing someone who has violently murdered another cannot begin to serve real justice on the killer. That will be done by God. (Interestingly, btw, I think that while non-Christians and many Christians seem to despise the “God of the Old Testament eye for eye” stuff, we don’t see how merciful this proscription really is! I mean, God puts brakes on vengeance here. It’s only one eye for an eye, not two, and so on.)

   In any event, the Bible is, it seems, clear that the state, and the state alone, is given the right to bear the sword of justice for the well-being of both Christian and non-Christian. That is its job. The idea that the state can “kill” in exacting justice in some ways makes me very nervous (I mean, they can’t even run the post office effectively) nonetheless, I think it can be Biblically apropriate. I.e., Paul says in Acts, “For if I am an offender, of have committed anything sword of death, I do not object to dying. . .” I.e., a penalty of death can be appropriate sword of the state.

   The question, then, it seems to me is not whether the Bible sanctions the death penalty in some form, or whether it is right, on principle, for the state to administer justice even when it includes the death penalty, but whether our justice system does it in a way that is fair (and humane.)

   Cheers - Betsy

2. Kevin Says:
   February 27th, 2006 at 6:03 pm

   I too go back and forth on whether the death penalty is right. I think a problem in this country is that if you have money and can afford a good lawyer, you usually will not get the death penalty. However if you are poor, there is a better chance that you will get put to death. If we are to have the death penalty, it needs to be consistent.

   K

3. Bethany Says:
   February 28th, 2006 at 11:53 pm

   The thing is, that even if you execute the person that killed someone, the person (people) they killed will not be coming back to life. Being a person that had a loved one murdered the issue for me wasn’t about what happened to the man that killed her. Because no matter what happened to him I was never going to be able to hug her again. But that’s just my humble opinion.

4. Dean Besaw Says:
   March 23rd, 2006 at 4:48 pm

   I am also against the death penalty for three reasons. 1) It is cruel and unusual punishment, 2) It is unconstitutional, and 3) What would Jesus do? As far as the constitution goes is says that we are given certain “unalienable” rights from our Creator, among these are LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That is why it makes no sense to be pro-life and pro-death penalty. And by the way, unalienable means you can’t take it away. As far as the WWJD comment….does anyone actually think that if Jesus was here on earth that he would kill someone or put them to death? I can’t even fathom that. Just my humble opinion.

   Dean

5. Kevin Says:
   May 6th, 2006 at 8:12 am

   Without a doubt, the death penalty is terrible. Without a doubt, there is injustice in our justice system, with the wealthy and white more often able to evade justice. But that is the case on all accounts, not just on capital crimes. It is imperfect, but it does not follow that we should scrap it altogether. Chaos and anarchy are not improvements.

   The Constitution does speak of a right to life, the framers also shared a hearty appreciation for their biblical and common law precedents, which included options for the death penalty. Besides, if life is unalienable, then so is liberty. Yet we do imprison people, which removes their liberties. So, the constitutional argument needs to be moderated.

   What would Jesus do? Well, if we’re thinking that we should only read the red letters in a Red Letter edition, then we’re left pondering a heck of a lot about what Jesus did and didn’t do, what he did and didn’t say. But if we embrace a canonical approach to such questions (arguably, the very approach Jesus took), then we’ll not only begin to appreciate how there was divine approval (even institutional demand) for the death penalty in the OT (probably with a whole lot more possibilities of getting it wrong to boot), as well as the terrible narratives of Jesus’s vengeance in the Book of Revelation.

   Yes, the death penalty is terrible. Of course, being locked up in jail forever isn’t exactly humane! How can life in prison, and that at our expense, be deemed just? Victims of terrible crimes are victimized again when they have to pay for the preservation of the perpetrators. I find it interesting that there is no prison system, per se, in the Bible. The punishments were such that people were not to be locked away forever. Maybe we should look at that feature anew.

   No, the death penalty doesn’t bring back those murdered. No, it probably doesn’t deter a whole lot of people (and how would we even determine that?). No, it isn’t practiced as justly as we hope it could be. No, it doesn’t teach the guilty any lessons, per se. And not all killing is murder, just as innocence is not guilt. And no, not all people are just as guilty, or guilty in the same ways, as though there is no difference between Don Miller and Jeffrey Dahmer (what’s on your menu?).

   So, what does the death penalty do? Well, I suggest it answers to the deep weird wisdom of God and ushers people into his throne room to stand before him, their ultimate and final judge. And it is that very judge who has advocated the death penalty in his word. I for one am reluctant to suggest that my wisdom excedes God’s, or that I have a greater sense of justice than he does.

   -Kevin

   P.S. Hi, Don. What’s it been, ten years since CO? Lots of water under lots of bridges, eh?

6. Eric Says:
   January 19th, 2007 at 12:06 am

   so what about the part in Exodus 21:12 when God is giving the law for the Hebrews and He says “Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death.” Doesn’t seem to me like there’s much room for argument there. This coming just a few verses after the statement of the 10 commandments. Where do we get off looking to those for moral guidelines and not the less famous statements just down the page? I think this is one area where we need to quit with the human wisdom and take the word of God as literal and true.

Leave a Comment