Fewer Are Being Sentenced to Death

An article (Washington Post, Friday, December 2nd) stated that the sentence to death is at its lowest in three decades. Early on the morning of this article Kenneth Boyd became the 1000th person executed since the Supreme Court reinstated the penalty in 1976. The article touches on the usual concerns:

• Are individuals being executed that are not guilty?
• Is the death penalty a deterrent?
• Should we execute the mentally challenged?
• What is too young to be executed?
• Should we abolish the death penalty?

These are all legitimate concerns but I find it shocking that anti-death penalty supporters never recognize the victims. Where does Justice enter the discussion?

On the issue of being wrongly executed: I’m of the opinion that the DNA defense will eventually bolster the death penalty supporters (like myself). The more we can discover truth, the more we will realize that we must be just in our judgments. DNA will convict more than it will clear. We are a nation of laws; if we don’t enforce them to protect the innocent then lawlessness runs amuck.

Individuals are sentenced to prison and received the death penalty as punishment. This is after being convicted of a crime. Prison sentences (including the death penalty) are not meant to be deterrents or a time set aside for rehabilitation. We should deter criminal activity before incarceration. This should be done in the home and in the culture at large.

Should we execute the young and mentally challenged? On a case-by-case basis; the guilty are to be duly punished. Common sense and a common goal of being a country the protects the innocent should be sufficient to solve these issues.

Should we abolish the death penalty? Maybe the better question is; where did the death penalty come from. God established the death penalty because innocent lives are precious. When we shed innocent blood we should surely be put to death. God has never rescinded this command. The object is to purge the evil from among us.

Every person sentenced to death should be given the opportunity to get right with God as eternity depends on it. After having the opportunity to accept or reject Christ, the sentence should be carried out. This speaks to the “Tookie” craze that is currently in the media. The question is not, is he a changed man; it’s is he guilty. If so, carry out the sentence.

My humble guess is this: Tookie is guilty because any man that is truly reformed and therefore right with God, will willingly denounce evil, admit guilt and welcome whatever sentence is handed down. This would reach more people than any book could and more importantly, please God.

Consider how many have been murdered since 1976? What is the murder victim to perpetrator execution ratio? I think the murder rate far exceeds executions.

As long as we are One Nation Under God we need to do things His way. If we decide to be an atheistic nation then we can abolish the death penalty and all moral laws to do what seems right to us. Consequently, this will lead to our demise as murder would become common-place, we would murder and wives, children and loved ones, devalue the life of the unborn, support euthanasia, and dishonor other sacred institutions design by God, like marriage. Wait a minute, could it be that we are living as if we don’t need God’s wisdom and principles and His granting our request?

Consider Christ

www.countdown21.com


Back to Answers