Posted on 03/30/2002 7:53:37 PM PST by malakhi
Hah! He has five days to appeal, it ain't over. I'm eager to see how the ADA might play in to this given his admitted alcoholism.
So you never commit a particular sin, repent of it, and then commit it again? If so, you are a better man than Paul.
I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good.
So then it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me.
For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it.
For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.
Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.
For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self,
but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members.
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (Romans 7:15-25)
BTW, the "casting the first stone" stipulation, was according to the Law, that the first to cast the stone had to be not guilty of that exact same sin in order to cast the stone.
Can you cite me the specific verse which states this requirement?
I don't dispute that. My point to Robby was that Britain came under Roman law prior to the arrival of Christianity.
Have you stopped beating your wife?
You could learn alot from scripture.
He's gone. The AD wouldn't have recommended firing without making sure the administration would uphold it.
Forget the interpreters just blow the dust off and read it.
You da judge, Verbum, you da judge!
My first encounter with the death penalty was in my home congregation. I was taking one of the youth out to lunch after a Sunday school morning service. This youth began to share with me how her uncle was on death row. She told how her mother no longer speaks to her aunt because the aunt accused her mother of not doing enough to hire a decent lawyer to get their brother off death row. This youth's mother had moved out of their home, sold everything they had and lived in a hotel for a while in order to raise money for an appropriate attorney, but this was not enough sacrifice for the family. Keep in mind - this is an African American family in which the mother works at a gas station to make ends meet while raising two children. The mother and the aunt were appauled at the ineptitude of the public defender that was assigned to their brother's case. Is this truly justice when the rich hire top rate attorneys (O.J. Simpson) yet the poor sell everything they have only to be given a third or fourth rate attorney?
This was followed by further damage to the family. The mother of the man on death row who attended my church also experienced mental delusion because of this sentence. The mother blamed herself. As my youth-grouper put it, she went "mad" as a result of the judicial system failing them. Fortunately, this mother was able to see her son removed from death row this last summer before she died in August because the Supreme Court ruled that the mentally ill and those sentenced by a judge are not able to be put on death row. It was actually a weird but tremendous joy at her funeral when the African American minister could celebrate this break through. Now this man who was on death row will spend the rest of his life in prison with no possibility of parole, which provides some sense of sanity to the family.
The second personal experience I have with the death penalty involves a close friend here at my seminary. Her cousin was executed last April (2002) in his late twenties. She is very upfront with the fact that her cousin raped and murdered a young woman. This friend of mine was asked by her cousin to be his chaplain at his death. This meant that she spent her final hours with him. My friend expressed immeasurable mercy when she said that she only hoped that something good could come from his execution. The husband of the woman had said that he wanted revenge and he hoped that her cousin would rot in hell. My friend hoped that perhaps some sense of revenge would be fulfilled through her cousin's death so that this man might find some healing. Only after the death, the newspaper reported that the husband felt no better or less angry. I was wondering why this man felt no sense of relief at the extreme punishment of his wife's killer. Perhaps this is because revenge does not truly offer comfort. It reminds me of Jesus' statements that "you have heard it said an eye for an eye but I tell you ..."
The death penalty affects more than the person executed - it affects an entire community with immeasurable pain. It also brings little relief to the family of the victim. Now that I've shared my own personal experience (which drives my argument more than any rational argument) What personal events in your life evoke such passion for you on this subject? I am often reminded of the last place Gulliver visits in his voyages. In Gulliver's Travels, he visits the island of the only rational horses. This place of supreme rationality, though, was unfulfilling in living an authentic life. I openly admit that I am moving beyond an Enlightenment paradigm with the above refelctions, but I find it to be a much more fulfilling paradigm. So if you would like to join me in this new paradigm - share your personal experience that is driving your passion on this subject.
I don't know what else they can do. I'm a Hawk fan and don't pay much attention to ISU. But this has been so embarrasing to the university. Plus they mentioned in their press conference yesterday that other allegations of similar behavior have come to light recently. If Eustachy appeals and drags it out, it could become very ugly (very much uglier).
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