Today’s Scripture Reading (May 11,
2014): Ezekiel 18
Following
the botched execution of Clayton Lockett on April 29, 2014, the United States
is once again forced to re-evaluate their position on Capital Punishment. The
execution of prisoners by the state has been under siege for decades. The
struggle continues, but we seem to be no closer to an answer. We seem to keep on
adjusting the laws to restrict the use of execution as a punishment designed
for only a small percentage of the population. Currently, thirty-two states
that still use the death penalty as a form of punishment but, maybe as a sign
of the times, that number has dropped from thirty-seven in just the last seven
years.
According to
Federal Law, the death penalty cannot be used for anyone who was younger than
eighteen at the time that the crime was committed, or for those who are
intellectually challenged. The thrust of the law would seem to be that for one
to be executed, the criminal must be deemed by the government to be both
emotionally and intellectually mature. The problem with that ruling is that one
would question whether anyone who is on sound ground emotionally or
intellectually could ever commit a capital crime. There would seem to be
something wrong, some damage or violence that has made the criminal also a
victim. As well, sociologists have argued that as our lives lengthen, the
period of time that is actually getting longer is adolescence; that we are no
longer leaving our teen years until somewhere around thirty. If that is true
then we are living in a highly idealized world where we are bullet proof and
not fully developed emotionally until we become thirty-something. Clayton Lockett was twenty-four at the time
of the last of his crimes.
On the
horizon, we have the sentencing of Dzhokhar
Tsarnaev, one of the suspected Bombers of the Boston Marathon in 2013. Dzhokhar
was only nineteen at the time of the bombings (he is twenty now), and under the
deep influence of his brother and other leaders hostile to the United States.
In January 2014, the United States Federal Government announced that it would
seek the death penalty for Dzhokhar but an examination of Dzhokhar leaves us
with a questions if he is really emotionally and mentally stable. Add to this
situation a recent report by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that
proclaims that out of every 1000 executions, forty-one of the executed
criminals are actually innocent. One innocent man condemned to death is too
many, 4.1% becomes immoral. There simply has to be another way
Sometimes I wonder if it is us,
the ones who are doing the executing that are emotionally stunted. Too many
people seem to live for payback and vengeance. But the problem is that even
when payback comes, we also find that even it is not satisfying. The pain
inside of us remains - the only difference is that now we get to spread it
around.
God speaks of this. He says “I
take no pleasure in the death of anyone.” Maybe we need to stress the anyone. In fact, God is so repelled by
death that as far as he is concerned repentance is enough to stop it. He seems
to be telling the exiles through Ezekiel that it is not too late. Even with all
of the sin that they have committed, and the magnitude of their crimes, God
desperately wants to find another way out of the situation so that death is not
involved.
And I hope that that is where
our culture one day finds itself. I love the pictures of the protestors
carrying signs that says “Don’t kill for me.” I think that the message reflects
the deep purposes of God. So let me join them by saying – don’t kill for me,
either.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ezekiel
19
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