Should Christians Favor Death Penalty?

            Love and Christianity are seemingly synonymous. When the judiciary awards death penalty to criminals the social media, which include Christians, rumbles and grumbles about the validity of death sentences.

            How should Christians view death penalty?

            This is an opportune moment to discuss this subject for Yakub Memon, involved in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts that killed 257 people, was executed in Nagpur, India on 30^th July - the morning of his 53^rd birthday and a day before his daughter’s 21^st birthday.

            Pew Research Center reports [1] that from among the other religions, Judaism and Buddhism oppose death penalty. Hinduism holds no clear stance. Islam favors death penalty. American atheists and agnostics are split almost equally on death penalty.

            Pew Research Center also reports [2] that from among the Christian denominations, Baptist, Episcopal, Evangelical Lutheran, Presbyterian and Methodist oppose death penalty. Assemblies of God and Mormons do not have an official position on death penalty. Southern Baptist and the Lutheran church – Missouri Synod favor death penalty.

            Although denominations may hold official positions on death penalty, individual members do not necessarily adhere to these official positions. A case in point is that 53% of US Catholics favor death penalty contradicting the official position of the Catholic Church [3].

            There are three major positions in the context of death penalty.

            First, Christians favoring death penalty (Reconstructionism) quote Genesis 9:6, Numbers 35: 33 etc. Their arguments are three-fold [4]:

            1. Old Testament law reflects God's unchanging character.

            2. Jesus did not come to abolish the law.

            3. Capital punishment is prescribed in the New Testament.  

            Charles “Chuck” Colson, who served as a special counsel to the American President Richard Nixon, founded “Prison Fellowship” in 1976. Chuck Colson’s view as a Christian and as one who had vast experience in serving prisoners should be diligently considered.

            Chuck Colson opposed death penalty to begin with. Subsequently, he changed his views and supported death penalty.

            These are Chuck Colson’s words, “…For as long as I can remember, I have opposed capital punishment. As a lawyer I observed how flawed the legal system is, and I concluded, as Justice Learned Hand once remarked, that it was better that a hundred guilty men go free than one innocent man be executed. I was also influenced by very libertarian views of government; I distrusted government too much to give power to take a human life to the judicial system…

            …But I must say that my views have changed and that I now favor capital punishment, at least in principle, but only in extreme cases when no other punishment can satisfy the demands of justice.

            …Perhaps the emotional event that pushed me over the (philosophical) edge was the John Wayne Gacy case some years ago. I visited him on death row. During our hour-long conversation he was totally unrepentant; in fact, he was arrogant. He insisted that he was a Christian, that he believed in Christ, yet he showed not a hint of remorse….

            …So in spite of my misgivings, I've come to see capital punishment as an essential element of justice. On the whole, the full range of biblical data weighs in its favor. Society should not execute capital offenders merely for the sake of revenge, rather to balance the scales of moral justice which have been disturbed.” [5]

            Second, Christians who oppose death penalty (Rehabilitationism) would argue as follows [6]:

            A. Neither Christ nor Paul called for death penalty upon the adulterers they encountered.

            B. God does not rejoice in the death of wicked (Ezekiel 18: 23). God did not enforce death penalty upon Cain and David for murdering Abel and for the adulterous affair with Bathsheba, respectively.

            C. Criminals should be allowed to reform or repent.

            D. Christians are called to love another and not pay evil for evil (cf. Matthew 5: 38-39 & Romans 12: 19).

            But what if a psychopath who was shown clemency escapes from the prison to continue killing people?

            A secular argument against death penalty is that the crime rate has not decreased despite the death penalty; hence death penalty should be abolished. Isn’t this a weak argument since abolishing death penalty is not a certain method to reduce crime?

            On the contrary, abolishing death penalty could fuel increased killings by rank evil minds, sociopaths and psychopaths who know certainly that they would live despite murdering innocent lives.

            Allowing unrepentant and rank evil murderers to live is unjust.

            It is considered humane to abolish death penalty. But is it humane to murder innocent lives?

            It is merely on humanitarian grounds that a murderer be excused and allowed to live. Humanitarian grounds posit an argument that is “in favor of life.”

            But the murderer has killed another life! So allowing this murderer to live unconditionally is a violation of justice. The only condition that would probably allow this murderer to live is if the murderer repents.

            So a murderer cannot live if he remains unrepentant. Even if a murderer repents, how would anyone know whether his repentance is true or not? This is the weakness of this position.

            A third position also exists. This favors death penalty for certain crimes, such as a murder of a child (Retributionism).  The arguments in favor of this position are [7]:

            (a) The primary goal of justice is punishment (cf. Genesis 9:6; Romans 13:4).

            (b) If it’s cruel to kill an offender then it’s cruel to kill an innocent person (e.g. child) for which the offender deserves to be killed.

            To conclude, man does not possess the godly wisdom to determine who dies and who lives. God who knows everything would perfectly know if a person is incapable of repenting or is capable of continuous murder. This knowledge is vital to decide the fate of a criminal.

            If we certainly knew that a criminal would continue to kill, then by all means it is safe and reasonable to execute him so to prevent further murders.

            If we certainly knew that a criminal would not repent but holds a murderous mindset, it is safe and reasonable to execute this criminal, for he could either escape and continue to kill or motivate others outside the prison to kill.  

            But if a criminal repents of his sin, then he deserves to live a changed life although in the confines of the prison / correction center.

            This then is the knowledge the judiciary should possess to establish justice. Unfortunately, this knowledge is privy to God alone.

            In the absence of such knowledge, the judiciary could merely examine the circumstances and evidences presented to decide appropriately.

            Finally, would God intervene to save a criminal, who is about to be executed before repentance via a wrong decision by the judiciary, and who would have repented if allowed to live longer? I believe God, who does not rejoice at the death of the wicked, would intervene to save this person, for HE knows perfectly that this criminal would repent.

            What would God do if a criminal who could have repented is executed before he repents? Would this criminal gain eternal life because of man’s (judiciary) wrong decision?

            If the just God allows a death, it implies that that criminal would not have repented even if allowed to live longer. Hence it follows that this criminal would not gain eternal life.

            Innocent people should not die. May the authorities ensure this at all cost.  

Endnotes:

[1] http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/07/13/some-major-u-s-religious-groups-differ-from-their-members-on-the-death-penalty/ last accessed 3^rd August 2015, 1100 hrs IST.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] http://www.compellingtruth.org/death-penalty-capital-punishment.html

[5] http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1274579/posts

[6] http://www.compellingtruth.org/death-penalty-capital-punishment.html

[7] Ibid.

Heart of Condemnation

            We may think there are no ugly crimes perpetrated within Christendom, especially in the likes of Nirbaya or a Sandy Hook massacre. That thought could lead us to be smug in our glass houses, thinking all is well within Christendom. But no, not all is well in Christianity.

            Do we think of our church as the best, our denomination so close to God’s heart, our music and worship even appealing to the heavenly realms, our knowledge of the Bible so vast, deep and impressive, our prayers greatly remarkable and efficient, and our sermons enchantingly admirable?

            How often do we mock at our neighbors faults? How often do we boast to our family and friends that we are so unlike the other sinful and appalling mortal (Cf Luke 18:9-14)?

            If we have gone through these motions, then welcome to the world of spiritual pride!

            At the heart of spiritual pride is a deeply embedded superior religiosity that looks down on everybody around. Let me give you an example from my own life. By the grace and power of God, I discarded smoking and alcoholism several years ago. My immediate response to practicing Christians who drink and smoke was that of a holy scorn. I mocked the legitimacy of their Christianity. How can they continue to drink and even drink like a fish, and smoke and even smoke like a chimney, and yet claim to be practicing Christians! I walked with a powerful halo around my condescending head showering utter disregard to these Christians.

            Condemnation also manifests in other ways – subtle as they may be. Couple of days ago, I had a short chat with a person I shall leave unnamed. He was shifting home, hence they requested their Pastor to visit and bless their new home. But on the day of their moving in, they were told that the Pastor was ill and cannot visit. If the Pastor was genuinely ill, then one should give him the latitude, for he is also a human being with a legitimate need to rest and recover. However, we need to ask one question here, if the same request had come from a powerful and influential member of that church, or from a rich member of that church, or from one of the elders, would the Pastor have visited the home in spite of his illness? The answer is only known to that Pastor and of course, God. If a Pastor or a church leader shows favoritism, then the person who has been deprived of the Pastor’s attention has been condemned to a state of humiliation.

            The holocaust was motivated because of the Nazi principle, “Life unworthy of life.” Then and literally, the Nazi’s decided who lived and died. Today and not so literally, we decide who lives and dies. Those condemned die a million deaths. One would not realize this fact unless they have experienced condemnation.

            The Bible screams against spiritual pride. I will endeavor to dig deep into this subject soon. May the good Lord bless and keep us always. Amen. 

Transformation: Christlikeness.

As we journey through the topic of transformation, we ought to know who we should resemble. May the Lord minister to us through this poem today. I don't need to write anything over and above what I consider to be a marvelously worded poem.

Please read the poem and be blessed.

Jesus and Alexander

Jesus and Alexander died at thirty-three;

One lived and died for self; one died for you and me.

The Greek died on a throne; the Jew died on a cross;

One’s life triumphed seemed; the other a loss.

One led armies forth; the other walked alone;

One shed a whole world’s blood; the other gave His own.

One won the world in life and lost it all in death;

The other lost His life to win the whole world’s faith.

Jesus and Alexander died at thirty-three;

One died in Babylon; and one on Calvary.

One gained all for self; and one Himself He gave;

One conquered every throne; the other every grave.

The one made himself god; The God made Himself less;

The one lived but to blast; the other but to bless!

When died the Greek, forever fell his throne of swords

But Jesus died to live forever Lord of lords.

Jesus and Alexander died at thirty-three.

The Greek made all men slaves; the Jew made all men free.

One built a throne on blood; the other built on love,

The one was born of earth; the other from above;

One won all this earth, to lose all earth and heaven.

The other gave up all, that all to Him be given.

The Greek forever died; the Jew forever lives;

He loses all who get, and gains all things who gives.

- Anonymous -

May the Triune God empower us to resemble our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Enjoy a blessed day. More later.....

Religious Tolerance

In my view the coin of ‘life’ has two sides especially in the context of “Religious Tolerance”.

On one side is the peaceful coexistence with my brothers and sisters of the other faith systems wherein we look beyond the respective doctrines and theology of the other faith. In fact before coming to serve in the Church, I have had more non-Christian friends and I have loved them as how I loved my Christian brother or sister! Since my heart aches for my non-Christian friends, we have had religious conversations but we have maintained gentleness, decency, decorum and respect for each other’s views and beliefs. We have always given the other the opportunity to pull out of the conversation at any point in time. Even though I am serving in the mainstream of Christianity (Church), I still love my old friends dearly and I continue to make new friends from outside of my faith. We love being in each other’s presence irrespective of our religious differences. I neither participate in their religious practices nor stuff my belief into their throats! I also don’t take offence if they don’t participate in my religious practices too! There is a mutual respect in these behaviors. However, I have loved and will continue to love a hearty meal in any of their homes.

On the other side of the coin is the fallacy of this so called ‘tolerance.’ The underlying fact is that some religions are inclusive whereas some others are exclusive. This is because ‘truth’ is always ‘exclusive,’ 1+1 is always 2. There are no other correct answers to this equation! In other words, even though there are many religions in this world only one can speak the truth and the others do not. There cannot be many ways to God & heaven but only one way and each one of us are in pursuit of this truth. In my opinion this is an ‘either-or’ but not ‘both-and’ system of logic. It is ‘either my faith or the other faith’ but certainly not ‘both mine and other’s’! I am convinced of this!

Now, a non-Christian brother of mine will not tolerate my God Jesus Christ’s teaching that HE (Jesus) is the only way to heaven - “Jesus Christ is THE way, THE truth and THE life”. Jesus Christ claims exclusivity and this is an ‘offence’ to people of other religions. This is not a new phenomenon! As much as a non-Christian will not buy into this teaching, no serious Christian will buy into the doctrines of the other religions! It is in this side of life’s coin the meaning of ‘tolerance’ dilutes.

I believe this ‘offense’ is in the heart of persecution. It is this ‘offense’ that drives people to take extreme measures against Christians. These extreme measures come under the pretext of ‘coerced conversions’ etc. But I sincerely believe that the underlying factor for these extreme measures like burning of Churches, killing or maiming Christians is fallout of this ‘offense’ in one way or the other for this ‘offense’ is deeply embedded in the hearts of our ‘serious non-Christian’ friends.

I also believe that each religion is indeed journeying on parallel roads that will never converge in this time & age. However, I firmly believe only one of these roads is the right way and the others not! So a peaceful coexistence will be the consequence of the quantum of one’s supposed tolerance to the other’s faith, especially the ones that claim ‘exclusivity’! It is precisely here that ‘tolerance’ should fade and ‘love’ should take over.

“Unconditional love” has far greater power than one can comprehend or even imagine. This is a tried and tested fact! I believe we can still unconditionally love one another irrespective of the other’s faith. We need to look at peaceful coexistence from the perspective of “Unconditional love” than from the perspective of “Religious Tolerance.”