[Sass]

Maybe I'll just open up a can of worms and run. I was just wondering where people in this forum stand on life issues. After attending the National Right to Life banquet last night, I am wondering a few things. How we can consistently be pro-life, pro-death penalty and pro-war? Are the right wing Christian conservatives somehow inconsistent in their stance on life by being both pro-life for the unborn yet pro-death penalty when there are those who have been wrongly convicted of murder by our judicial system?

[Sass]

With regard to the death penalty, a graduate of my seminary started a ministry and I thought you might be interested. It is called Centurion Ministries and it works to free those who have been wrongly convicted. Here is a list of cases they have worked on.

[SoothingDave]

How we can consistently be pro-life, pro-death penalty and pro-war?

Just war. Just punishment.

There is no "just" abortion.

Are the right wing Christian conservatives somehow inconsistent in their stance on life by being both pro-life for the unborn yet pro-death penalty when there are those who have been wrongly convicted of murder by our judicial system?

Is it inconsistent to jail people, after all some people have been wrongly convicted?

We strive for excellence, certainly in this country more than in any other. But errors will always happen in human systems. We can wring our hands, or we can do our best to ensure that errors are caught.

No one can honestly state that anyone is executed in this country without going through multiple rings of various jurisdictions and watchdogs. We've had two guys here in PA who killed like 10 people, including some cops in 1981. They are still on the "due process" merry-go-round.

There is little more we can do.

SD

[IMRight]

Good Christians may disagree on the "justness" of a particular war, and may even express concern about the way a particular death penalty statute is administered...

But there is no inconsistency between the Pro-life & pro-death-penalty positions.

The death penalty is a punishment for personal crimes. Babies have committed no crimes. The opposing position ("death to the innocent but mercy for the guilty") is the one that is inconsistent.

[malakhi]

How we can consistently be pro-life, pro-death penalty and pro-war?

Anti-abortion is protecting the innocent. Pro-death penalty is punishing the guilty. There is no conflict with being pro-life and pro-death penalty, provided all reasonable precautions are taken to ensure that no innocent people are executed. Given our appeals processes and our public subsidy of legal representation for the accused, I think the standard of "reasonable precaution" is met. It may be frustrating to have people on death row for so long, but I think it helps prevent the execution of people who are actually innocent.

Not to mention that it is scriptural.

Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image. (Genesis 9:6)

Pro-war? Very few are "pro-war". People want peace. Sometimes this requires us to fight for the right to live peacefully and in freedom. Again I see no conflict.

[CindyDawg]

For me abortion is the easiest to answer. Unless a mother's life is in danger a child should not be removed early but if it becomes necessary then I feel everything possible should be done to help the little one survive. I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't always feel this way. At one time I felt it was wrong for me but each woman should make their own decisions. Thankfully God opened my eyes and changed my way of thinking.

It would be very hard for me to vote for a death penalty but if the crime was henious enough and I was absolutely sure (witnesses, dna etc.) I could do it because we do not have a life without parole. It just came up again and our governor overruled it. Some people just can't go back into society. If we had life without parole I would never vote for a death penalty though because after death there are no more chances for salvation.

The last is the hardest. The last soldier found was from a town about 3 miles from me. I got all choked up when I saw his picture on the news yesterday. Such a handsome young man, standing proudly in his marine uniform. Sometimes we have to fight though, after all peaceful solutions resolved. I am very grateful to these young men and women who volunteered to protect us and have died for our freedom.