Why I Cannot Support Death Penalty

[Dan Z]

Here is a spin-off discussion from the "Good things about the Biden Presidency" thread:

I'm hopeful the Biden administration will be able to follow through on their campaign promise to try to abolish the federal death penalty. Frankly, I was very disappointed with the flurry of federal executions that took place in the last months of the former administration.

Why?

My answer is below...

[Dan Z]

I'm hopeful the Biden administration will be able to follow through on their campaign promise to try to abolish the federal death penalty. Frankly, I was very disappointed with the flurry of federal executions that took place in the last months of the former administration.

Why?

I'm not Dan. But...

1. Even if you support the death penalty (which I do not) you have to face the fact that it is administered in a very inequitable fashion in the US. If you are poor or non-white you are much more likely to receive a death sentence for the identical crime than if you are rich or white. That isn't equal justice under the law.

2. There have been many people on death row who have subsequently found innocent. And there have been executions of people who are now believed to have been innocent. I would hope that you find that problematic. The criminal justice system is far from perfect. But death is permanent.

3. Administering the death penalty is far more expensive than life in prison or long prison sentences. The state spends millions upon millions of extra dollars to execute people. Money that could be better spent on other uses.

4. It puts us in very poor and uncivilized company on a world-wide basis. Is this really the company we want to keep?

[Dan Z]

I'm hopeful the Biden administration will be able to follow through on their campaign promise to try to abolish the federal death penalty. Frankly, I was very disappointed with the flurry of federal executions that took place in the last months of the former administration.

Why?

While Ken gave some very good pragmatic reasons why a just and modern society would question the death penalty, my reasons are more faith-based:

• 1) Because I am a follower of Jesus and I can't, in good conscience, support something that is contrary to Christ's teaching. The death penalty is grounded on the principle of Talion or Retributive Justice, where punishment is like-for-like; an "eye for an eye" a "life for a life." Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, overrode this principle saying "You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." How can I, a servant of Jesus Christ, support something that he forbids.
  
  2) Because I am Pro-Life. I understand life as a sacred stewardship from God, and acknowledge that HE alone should be the giver and taker of life. I would no sooner support the death penalty than abortion, or euthanasia, or eugenics, or lynching, or war.
  
  3) Because history and prophesy teach that the death penalty is a threat to people of faith like me. My spiritual forebears have been tortured and killed as a result of state-sponsored capital punishment used against them, from Switzerland to Germany to the United States. Government-led persecution of people of faith continues to be a threat to the Church in various places across the globe. Furthermore, the death penalty was used to murder my Lord and most of his disciples - and they prophetically warn of its rampant use in the last days. Why would I lend my voice in support of that which has and will represent a grave threat to my brethren and my children?

[Josh]

Do you feel the supporting incarceration for life is compatible with your faith?

Ultimately, what should be done with murderers? The Bible clearly states that the magistrate “does not bear the sword in vain”; it seems odd for Christians to expect earthly government to follow New Testament principles. If anything, earthly government should be modelled over the Old Testament law.

[Ken]

Do you feel the supporting incarceration for life is compatible with your faith?

Ultimately, what should be done with murderers? The Bible clearly states that the magistrate “does not bear the sword in vain”; it seems odd for Christians to expect earthly government to follow New Testament principles. If anything, earthly government should be modelled over the Old Testament law.

So stoning for blasphemy and adultery, legalized slavery, and that sort of thing?

[nett]

I'm hopeful the Biden administration will be able to follow through on their campaign promise to try to abolish the federal death penalty. Frankly, I was very disappointed with the flurry of federal executions that took place in the last months of the former administration.

Why?

While Ken gave some very good pragmatic reasons why a just and modern society would question the death penalty, my reasons are more faith-based:

• 1) Because I am a follower of Jesus and I can't, in good conscience, support something that is contrary to Christ's teaching. The death penalty is grounded on the principle of Talion or Retributive Justice, where punishment is like-for-like; an "eye for an eye" a "life for a life." Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, overrode this principle saying "You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." How can I, a servant of Jesus Christ, support something that he forbids.
  
  2) Because I am Pro-Life. I understand life as a sacred stewardship from God, and acknowledge that HE alone should be the giver and taker of life. I would no sooner support the death penalty than abortion, or euthanasia, or eugenics, or lynching, or war.
  
  3) Because history and prophesy teach that the death penalty is a threat to people of faith. My spiritual forebears have been tortured and killed as a result of state-sponsored capital punishment used against them, from Switzerland to Germany to the United States. Government-led persecution of people of faith continues to be a threat to the Church in various places across the globe. Furthermore, the death penalty was used to murder my Lord and most of his disciples - and they prophetically warn of its rampant use in the last days. Why would I lend my voice in support of that which has and will represent a grave threat to my brethren and my children?

It sounds like you're conflating your requirements for practice as a Christian, specifically a non-resistant Christian, with the responsibility of the state.

The state has a responsibility to punish evil doers, right? How do you believe that should be carried out in extreme cases?

[Robert]

The state has a responsibility to punish evil doers, right? How do you believe that should be carried out in extreme cases?

While the state has to do what it does, I am with Dan and I do not support the death penalty. I have no issue with someone being incarcerated their entire life. Maybe people, later in life will accept Jesus and if we kill someone, we condemn that person. I do not support killing people because it takes away their future that they may choose Jesus. If they do not, then they face God at the time of death. Then God and that person chooses, not me.

[temporal1]

There is a Death Row inmate who wrote me weeks ago, and assured me that he was a Christian; but he sounded very flip about it.
So I wrote him back and told him about repentance being an integral part of salvation. I didn't hear back, and assumed he might have been offended at my bluntness. But Friday I got a birthday card from him (my agnostic pen pal had to have clued him in) and he thanked me for the "nice letter," and said yes, I could sent preaching DVD to his chaplain. His card was dated Aug. 23, but postmarked 31.

I do not know if he is truly a child of God.
Please pray to our merciful God that if he isn't, he will surrender his heart and will to Him.

His name is John, and his execution date is this Wednesday, the 8th.

i cannot fathom the work Joy (and others) do. ^^ i am beyond thankful for it.

beyond that, i’m “of (horrified) no opinion” on it.

i’m crippled at comparisons of the death penalty, or life in prison, of convicted multiple felons versus wholesale for-profit slaughter of the utterly innocent+defenseless. add to that, numbers of murders on the streets. it’s a slaughterhouse, of which the U.S. death penalty is ..

well. maybe i see such comparisons as “straining at gnats.”
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4136

i believe all souls matter.
so, neither do i want to minimize. i don’t think i could bear to be anywhere near or present ANY of these executions:

1) “17 prisoners were executed in the United States in 2020. Five states and the Federal Government carried out executions.”
https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions/2020

2) “U.S. Abortion Statistics”
https://abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_a ... statistics

.. Based on available state-level data, approximately 888,000 abortions took place in the United States in 2019, up from 876,000 abortions in 2018.

3) “2020 Ends as One of America's Most Violent Years in Decades”
https://time.com/5922082/2020-gun-viole ... cord-year/

Across the U.S., this year has taken a heavy toll. The coronavirus has upended daily life and resulted in the deaths of over 300,000 people; 2020 is on track to be the “deadliest year in U.S. history,” according to The Associated Press, with a projected rise of 15% in total deaths from 2019.

The pandemic’s economic impact has left hundreds of thousands of people out of work, struggling to provide for themselves and their families. Other stresses and pressures related to lockdowns and prolonged periods of isolation have also carried significant burdens. ..

So much for vaccines saving lives.

Recap (approx annual) execution numbers:
1) 17 convicted multiple felons
2) 300,000 without jury or judge
3) 888,000 innocent+defenseless

[nett]

The state has a responsibility to punish evil doers, right? How do you believe that should be carried out in extreme cases?

While the state has to do what it does, I am with Dan and I do not support the death penalty. I have no issue with someone being incarcerated their entire life. Maybe people, later in life will accept Jesus and if we kill someone, we condemn that person. I do not support killing people because it takes away their future that they may choose Jesus. If they do not, then they face God at the time of death. Then God and that person chooses, not me.

When you say "we", it makes it sound like all citizens are complicit in the government's punishment of evil doers, and I don't see it that way. non-resistant Anabaptists don't serve on jury duty, don't vote etc. This is to maintain that separation of responsibility in these things.

[Sudsy]

The state has a responsibility to punish evil doers, right? How do you believe that should be carried out in extreme cases?

While the state has to do what it does, I am with Dan and I do not support the death penalty. I have no issue with someone being incarcerated their entire life. Maybe people, later in life will accept Jesus and if we kill someone, we condemn that person. I do not support killing people because it takes away their future that they may choose Jesus. If they do not, then they face God at the time of death. Then God and that person chooses, not me.

That is my belief also. Many in life sentences have turned to God and have lead other inmates to turn to God. God saves anyone, regardless of their past sin, just ask the apostle Paul who seen himself as chiefest of sinners.