Posted on 02/07/2011 2:47:34 PM PST by Gamecock
Concurring with recent comments made by a state supreme court justice and a former director of state prisons, the bishops of Ohio are calling for the abolition of the death penalty in their state.
Murder rightly evokes moral outrage and a call for justice, the bishops said in a February 4 statement. It also calls for spiritual healing and caring support for all those impacted by such a tragedy. Just punishment-- punishment that reflects the seriousness of the offense, seeks restoration for the offense, and protects society-- is a foundational moral principle within our justice system.
Just punishment can occur without resorting to the death penalty, the bishops continued, adding:
Our Church teachings consider the death penalty to be wrong in almost all cases. Every human being is a child of God, no matter what sins the person commits. Every human life has infinite dignity because it is designed by God to be immortal. Today, given the means available to the State for dealing with crime, cases where it is absolutely necessary to use the death penalty are practically nonexistent. In other states and countries, life imprisonment has shown itself to be an effective alternative. Life imprisonment respects the moral view that all life, even that of the worst offender, has value and dignity.
Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
“Thou shall not Murder” .... and the Godly response to MURDER is to Kill the murderer....at least that’s what I THINK.
...except for child molestation?
What about lifers who escape and murder? It happened in AZ some years back; more innocent people murdered because the murderer was allowed to live.
Why didn't they call for an end to murder?
Well, hopefully the citizens of Ohio will give the Bishops an answer ..... a resounding NO!
In the 1700s, a death sentence was handed down WITH an altar call for the criminal to make peace with Christ, before they leave the earth.
Funny, I’m not even a BISHOP, and I know this.
I had a discussion once with a person who believed the death penalty is wrong in all cases. I said she actually believed in the death penalty, she just applied it to the fellow inmates and guards who are killed by imprisoned lifers. I gave her concrete, factual examples, some heartbreaking. Her reply, after dispensing with the dysfunctional verbal diarrhea, was that these were acceptable collateral damage.
This is a sick mindset. When the rights of the worst criminals are championed, the rights of law abiding citizens are jeopardized—sometimes fatally.
In this Great Republic, "We, the People" are the governing authorities, and "We, the People" reserve certain rights against the government which is our creature. One of those rights is the freedom of speech, another is to petition the government for redress of grievances, yet another is to choose our representative as we see fit. "We, the People" includes these bishops.
Do you have some sort of problem with your fellow citizens of this Great Republic exercising their right of free speech? Do you have a problem with your fellow citizens carrying out their duties as the "governing authorities" in a republic? Is there some category of Citizens that you wish to silence? Do you wish to employ force to silence them?
There was also a Lifer who ordered a killing from behind bars. Happened in California recently, but can’t remember the criminal’s name.
Solution: Send all those sentenced to the death penalty to the homes of the bishops of Ohio. There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?
People can’t forgive and get past murder without believing real justice has taken place.
That justice has both a temporal and eternal timeline to it. There are temporal and eternal consequences that need to be administered.
"[T]he citizens of Ohio" is a category which includes these Bishops.
Brilliant! If we hurl enough obscenities at our opponents, surely everyone will see the righteousness of our cause!
Genesis 9:5-6 (New King James Version) 5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every mans brother I will require the life of man. 6 Whoever sheds mans blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.
As a former Ohioan, I wonder if those same Bishops have issued a position on Catholic politicians and the withholding of Communion for those that vote(d) for abortion.
If you take, thou shalt not kill and translate that into Hebrew, it doesn’t say kill, it says murder. So the 6th commandment should read: Thou shalt not murder. The death penalty is not murder, it is by the law of God a justifiable killing.
Does that Free Speech not apply to dissenting opinions?
Is there some category of Citizens that you wish to silence?
Do you wish to silence all those who disagree with Roman Catholics?
Do you wish to employ force to silence them?
Why are you poisoning the well?
That’s a good question. I suspect you are correct.
I’m sure I’m going to be flamed on this one but I do not support capital punishment. I don’t believe the state has the authority to execute anyone.
As for the examples you cited of a person escaping confinement, what about the cases where it is uncovered that the executed person was actually innocent?
Or where execution becomes a tool of political oppression as it has in many different regimes. Permitting the state to execute people prevents the state from correcting errors.
Of course you could argue that it was the fault of mercy that someone shown mercy later kills another, but Christ talks about when the shepherd’s missing one sheep, he looks over all the hills to find that one sheep.
Execution ends all chance of redemption.
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