Capital Doubts
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments against Kentucky's lethal injection procedure in January, as attorneys for two death row inmates contended that when done incorrectly, the procedure—which involves three shots to numb, paralyze, and kill—can cause extreme pain to the prisoner.
While the issue before the Supreme Court is narrow, the national mood on capital punishment itself seems to be shifting. New Jersey became the 14th state to outlaw executions in December 2007. And a Pew Forum poll taken last August found that public support for capital punishment has dropped to 62 percent from a high of 80 percent in 1994. White evangelicals are still the death penalty's strongest supporters, with 74 percent approval, but that is down from 82 percent in 1996.
Some Christians have been disturbed by the disproportionate number of poor and African American prisoners on death row, said John Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute, a conservative civil liberties organization. According to a January poll done by NationalChristianPoll.com, a research service of CT parent company Christianity Today International, about two-thirds of active Christians who oppose capital punishment are troubled by mistakes in the legal system that could lead to the execution of innocent people.
"It's anti-evangelical to kill people," Whitehead said. "Christianity is redemptive. But you can't redeem people by extinguishing them." Whitehead believes opposition to the death penalty will gain momentum in the future. "Young Christians are seeing right away that, hey, the meek and mild Jesus—would he pull the lever? Would he put the hood on and pull the lever? I don't think so."
The numbers may support Whitehead's theory. Only 55 percent of ...
This article is currently available to CT subscribers only.
To continue reading:
or
The 'Handicap Icon' Gets New Life
Sidelining the Stigma of Mental Illness
(on articles open to the public, you must at least register for a free account).
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
Newsletters
Google
Comments
Displaying 1–3 of 8 comments
See all comments
David
Jesus never said a word against the death penalty for murder. However, He did note that death was the expected punishment for participation in murder, when He presented the parable of the vinyard. There is simply no Scriptural support for opposition to the death penalty for murder, while there is overwhelming support. Thus opposition to the death penalty for murder is merely a personal preference in direct opposition to the Word of God.
Donald
Once God imposed the duty on mankind to execute murderers, He restated it several times. That makes it more difficult for heretics to sustain their false claim that the moral duty to execute murderers doesn’t exist. However, God’s initial requirement should be sufficient for those who don’t wish to consider themselves greater than God. In Genesis Chapter 9, God spoke directly to all the humans then living. In verses 5 and 6 God established a clear requirement for the execution of murderers: “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made He man”. Modern heretics continue to attempt to corrupt God’s word on capital punishment. Therefore, my daughter’s King James Study Bible (page 23) must provide a brief clarifying note: “The God-given right of executing murderers involves the establishment of human government following the Flood. This right of capital punishment has not been rescinded during the Christian Era (Acts 25:11; Romans 13:4).
Julie
I tend to support the death penalty because of the sentiments expressed by Aaron, but I have to admit there have been too many cases of innocent people being wrongly sentenced to death. In one example, the prosecution withheld evidence that could have cleared the person on death row; thankfully, the truth came out before he was sent to his death. If there were a way to guarantee that such things never happened, I would probably support the death penalty without reservations. But if even one person is wrongly executed, that is too many.