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[I have set out my position regarding capital punishment generally here. Although I knew most of this before reading it, the information in this post is also contained in Dale S. Recinella's book The Biblical Truth About America's Death Penalty. Recinella's book is a good jumping off point for anyone thinking about capital punishment -- he addresses the problems of the system generally, albeit through the lens of a Christian seeking to convince other Christians.]
One of the frustrations for those of us on the left who oppose the fundamentalists on social issues is the doublethink they exhibit about capital punishment. Although they are opposed to abortion, claiming it violates the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Kill," they have no problem with the death penalty. Often, if pressed, they will opine that the Bible allows for the death penalty, and in fact requires the death penalty for murder ("an eye for an eye"), and that the difference between fetuses and convicts is that the former are "innocent." They conveniently overlook the fact that some of those sent to death row may be innocent of the crimes they committed, and that in any case, biblical support for the death penalty may not be as solid as they think it is.
The Bible is a dangerous book in many ways. It has been used to propagate social injustice, usually by very selective readings of the text. Often, fundamentalists or other conservatives cite Exodus 21:24: when an injury is done to someone, "you shall give life for life, eye for eye, hand for hand...." This is a shining example of biblical imperative being taken out of the context in which it exists.
The lex talionis is a restriction upon behavior, not a prescription for execution. In a culture where maiming a person could get your entire family wiped out, requiring proportionality in punishment set the people of God apart, as being not bound by endless cycles of blood vengeance.
Furthermore, aside from murder, there are an entire array of offenses which required the death penalty. Funny, I don't see people calling for the death penalty for adulterers. Or the stoning of unchaste women. (Although among some of the more rabid homophobes, you do hear calls for the execution of gays.) As with issues of homosexuality, fundamentalists engage in a selective reading of the Pentateuch,* ignoring, among other things, that each judicial fact be established through the testimony of more than one witness (Deuteronomy 17: 6, 19:15.). And that all possible steps should be taken to prevent the execution of the innocent. And that those who testify falsely in a capital case should be put to death.
And what about the New Testament? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus states: "You have heard it said 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth'. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek to him as well." And if that were not enough, there is John 8, and all that business with "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone".** How anyone can say, in the face of that, that the death penalty is consistent with Christianity baffles me.
We are all children of God, whatever we proclaim as our faith, if any. We cannot abdicate that by anything we have done -- or where is salvation? Where is forgiveness? How can any Christian argue that murderers are beyond God's grace or mercy, when the New Testament clearly indicates that no person is beyond grace?
It angers me when people use the Bible to promote injustice.*** In the case of the death penalty, it sickens me as well.
*It's off topic, but I feel I absolutely have to shout out to godhatesshrimp.com and, on a more serious note, Real Live Preacher's discussion of homosexuality and the Bible.
** Under Mosaic law as spelled out in Deuteronomy, the first stone was to be cast by witnesses to the crime.
*** In his book mentioned at the top of this post, Dale S. Recinella compares biblically based arguments justifying the death penalty with those used a century and a half earlier to justify slavery.
One of the frustrations for those of us on the left who oppose the fundamentalists on social issues is the doublethink they exhibit about capital punishment. Although they are opposed to abortion, claiming it violates the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Kill," they have no problem with the death penalty. Often, if pressed, they will opine that the Bible allows for the death penalty, and in fact requires the death penalty for murder ("an eye for an eye"), and that the difference between fetuses and convicts is that the former are "innocent." They conveniently overlook the fact that some of those sent to death row may be innocent of the crimes they committed, and that in any case, biblical support for the death penalty may not be as solid as they think it is.
The Bible is a dangerous book in many ways. It has been used to propagate social injustice, usually by very selective readings of the text. Often, fundamentalists or other conservatives cite Exodus 21:24: when an injury is done to someone, "you shall give life for life, eye for eye, hand for hand...." This is a shining example of biblical imperative being taken out of the context in which it exists.
The lex talionis is a restriction upon behavior, not a prescription for execution. In a culture where maiming a person could get your entire family wiped out, requiring proportionality in punishment set the people of God apart, as being not bound by endless cycles of blood vengeance.
Furthermore, aside from murder, there are an entire array of offenses which required the death penalty. Funny, I don't see people calling for the death penalty for adulterers. Or the stoning of unchaste women. (Although among some of the more rabid homophobes, you do hear calls for the execution of gays.) As with issues of homosexuality, fundamentalists engage in a selective reading of the Pentateuch,* ignoring, among other things, that each judicial fact be established through the testimony of more than one witness (Deuteronomy 17: 6, 19:15.). And that all possible steps should be taken to prevent the execution of the innocent. And that those who testify falsely in a capital case should be put to death.
And what about the New Testament? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus states: "You have heard it said 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth'. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek to him as well." And if that were not enough, there is John 8, and all that business with "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone".** How anyone can say, in the face of that, that the death penalty is consistent with Christianity baffles me.
We are all children of God, whatever we proclaim as our faith, if any. We cannot abdicate that by anything we have done -- or where is salvation? Where is forgiveness? How can any Christian argue that murderers are beyond God's grace or mercy, when the New Testament clearly indicates that no person is beyond grace?
It angers me when people use the Bible to promote injustice.*** In the case of the death penalty, it sickens me as well.
*It's off topic, but I feel I absolutely have to shout out to godhatesshrimp.com and, on a more serious note, Real Live Preacher's discussion of homosexuality and the Bible.
** Under Mosaic law as spelled out in Deuteronomy, the first stone was to be cast by witnesses to the crime.
*** In his book mentioned at the top of this post, Dale S. Recinella compares biblically based arguments justifying the death penalty with those used a century and a half earlier to justify slavery.
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That's interesting and I'd not known that. Thank you for increasing my knowledge.
Good other points as well.
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shout out, too. *grin*)