Perhaps the simplest way to put it is that the very learned Bishop DeGroot-Nesdahl, who got her job by learning more about the Bible than 99.9% of folks on the street. She knows what the Bible says in total about justice and forgiveness, and she works to put that teaching into practice. (Remember, the ELCA started and supports St. Dysmas of South Dakota, "a fully chartered mission congregation" in the state penitentiary.)
We as a state are about to kill a man. If you think killing a man is a good idea, you'd better have thought about it longer than it takes to squawk, "An eye for an eye!" It doesn't matter if the man we're going to kill didn't think about it when he killed. Bishop DeGroot-Nesdahl has thought about it and come down on the side of life.
Other reading:
- Jill Callison, "Churches Lend Voice to Debate," Argus Leader, 2007.07.07
- "State Is Given Golden Opportunity" (editorial), Vermilion Plain Talk, 2006.08.31 (prime quote: "It's not the victim's responsibility to be calm and dispassionate, but it is the law's.")
"Depend upon it, Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully."
ReplyDeleteFor the killer I have no great care. I don't care if he lives or dies. I don't care for his suffering or pleasure. If he seeks forgiveness for his sins or sits drawing pentagrams in his cell means nothing. His life has pretty much lost all its value to me. While life itself does have intrinsic value - the value of an individuals life is determined far more by who they are and what they've done with that life beyond possessing it.
ReplyDeleteI mostly just want everyone else protected, and if people are better protected by blowing out this candle, good. If not, fine...which is cheaper?