Posted on 12/05/2005 4:16:38 AM PST by bloggodocio
The solemn voices echoed through the high-vaulted sanctuary of St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church in Baltimore. "There is in our land a great cry for vengeance as we fill up death rows and kill the killer in the name of justice, in the name of the peace," the two dozen worshipers intoned last week at the interfaith prayer service. "Holy Spirit of God ... help us work tirelessly for the abolition of state-sponsored death and to renew our society in its very heart, so that violence will be no more."
As the execution of Wesley Eugene Baker nears, the religious are lining up on both sides of the capital punishment debate.
Most visible have been those who are calling on Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. to grant clemency to Baker for the 1991 killing of 49-year-old Jane Tyson during a robbery outside Westview Mall in Baltimore County. Faith-based opponents of capital punishment have taken a leading role in the campaign to stop the execution by lethal injection. The death warrant signed by Ehrlich ordered that Baker be executed between 12:01 this morning and 11:59 p.m. Friday.
Less vocal have been those believers who support the death penalty as punishment for grave crimes.
"Just as good Catholics believed in World War II and can believe in the need to get rid of Osama bin Laden and the Taliban, and believe in self-defense, a Catholic can argue that the death penalty is justified," said Michael Paranzino, a Catholic who is president of the Kensington-based pro-capital punishment group Throw Away the Key.
Like war, abortion and homosexuality, capital punishment remains an area over which co-religionists disagree - with both sides finding support for the positions in Scripture.
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
Guess which side the MSM is on in this debate. No prizes as there's no suspense, but those who categorically oppose capital punishment actually stand athwart all of church history.
As that has not stopped their brethren on the left on so many other fronts, it won't stop or even cause them to think here.
Perhaps if we insisted that released murderers be located in their neighborhoods, this might concentrate their minds on the issue.
The ball is in their court, not in that of law-abiding citizens defending their society from these predators.
“The murderer shall surely be put to death” - Num 35:16-18.
Even that is not needed for the death penalty to be abolished. We can abolish the death penalty if the criminals stay in jail for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, with unlimited appeals, liberal judges and wimpy governors, this can never be assured.
True, true, true. If our vigilant presstitutes actually reported the whole theological scorecard of the leftist "faithful" we'd find that they "split" from scriptural authority a long, long time ago. Apostates always think the golden calf their age is the image of God.
No arguments here. As long as we're talking about Abortion.
After they reduce the murder rate to a negligible level, I think we can consider whether there remains any need for the death penalty. Until that time, don't even ask.
Pro abortion Catholics are usually heralded as enlightened thinkers but Catholics who support the DP are often told we should obey church teaching. Interesting double standard from the liberal establishment.
I would oppose the DP *if* there were a guarantee that all murderers were locked up for life either with hard labor or very spartan solitary confinement. To me, that is pretty cruel. But there are no such guarantees.
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