Capital Punishment: An Act of Mercy
How Can Anyone Take a Position on the Issue of Capital Punishment Without Considering the Spiritual Implications of Death and Judgment?
Girl genius Marilyn vos Savant once devoted half of her "Ask Marilyn" column in Parade magazine to a consideration of the pros and cons of capital punishment, without once mentioning the possibility of an afterlife and the correlation between reconciliation and the prospect of eternal punishment. Marilyn conceded that she considers "capital murder far more abhorrent than . . . capital punishment " and for that reason "reluctantly support[s] the administration of the death penalty." She insisted, however, that she could find "nothing positive about the concept of capital punishment." Apparently, Marilyn hasn't searched hard enough.
Anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the positive effects of capital punishment would be well advised to read The Consolation of Philosophy, by Boethius, or Herman Melville's short story "Billy Budd." One is a factual, the other a fictional, account of a man unjustly condemned to death who nevertheless overcomes his bitterness and self-pity and, recognizing the blessing in his misfortune, seizes the opportunity to save his soul. Atheists and agnostics, depending on their temperament, view capital punishment either as just or vengeful. Only the faithful, however, can see it for what it really is, the ultimate act of mercy. That so few of the faithful do see it this way is, perhaps, a judgment on their faith.
Assuming that eternal life -- in heaven or hell -- awaits us after our brief sojourn on earth, anything that redounds to our salvation must be counted as more valuable than human life itself. Far from being inhumane, then, a death sentence is one of the greatest blessings we sinners can receive. By focusing the mind on the mortality that most of us ignore, it provides a compelling incentive for reconciliation. This applies even to those rare few who've been falsely convicted.
How many "victims" of capital punishment (not to mention terminal illness) might have been damned without the knowledge of their imminent demise? Do they share our mortal squeamishness in paradise? Not likely. They undoubtedly conclude, and rightly so, that we place too much emphasis on this life and too little on the next.
Published by F.R.
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- Dead Man Walking, by Sister Helen Prejean"Ask Marilyn," by Marilyn vos SavantThe Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius"Billy Budd," by Herman Melville
- Dead Man Walking stars Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon
- Death sentences can lead to religious conversion
- Terminal illnesses can lead to religious conversion
7 Comments
Post a Commenthmmmm, societally sanctioned murder is "the ultimate act of mercy"! What rubbish! By this logic everyone should be put to death at birth without the intervening period we refer to as "life". By the way, what happens if/when we all find out that there isn't a "soul", or a God or Heaven or salvation? Life is all there is and then there is nothing but the return to corruption from whence we came. This entire article is hilariously ridiculous but for the fact that life is salvation from the "void". Try thinking about what you thought about from the time before you were born, to get my drift.
continued......Carey agrees with Saints Augustine and Aquinas, that executions represent mercy to the wrongdoer: ". . . a secondary measure of the love of God may be said to appear. For capital punishment provides the murderer with incentive to repentance which the ordinary man does not have, that is a definite date on which he is to meet his God. It is as if God thus providentially granted him a special inducement to repentance out of consideration of the enormity of his crime . . . the law grants to the condemned an opportunity which he did not grant to his victim, the opportunity to prepare to meet his God. Even divine justice here may be said to be tempered with mercy." (p. 116). Synopsis of "A Bible Study" from "Essays on the Death Penalty, T. Robert Ingram, ed., St. Thomas Press, Houston, 1963, 1992.
Mercy and the death penalty?.....From Quaker biblical scholar Dr. Gervas A. Carey. A Professor of Bible and past President of George Fox College, " . . . the decree of Genesis 9:5-6 is equally enduring and cannot be separated from the other pledges and instructions of its immediate context, Genesis 8:20-9:17; . . . that is true unless specific Biblical authority can be cited for the deletion, of which there appears to be none. It seems strange that any opponents of capital punishment who professes to recognize the authority of the Bible either overlook or disregard the divine decree in this covenant with Noah; . . . capital punishment should be recognized . . . as the divinely instituted penalty for murder; The basis of this decree . . . is as enduring as God; . . . murder not only deprives a man of a portion of his earthly life . . . it is a further sin against him as a creature made in the image of God and against God Himself whose image the murderer does not respect." (p. 111-113) C
I think that those who oppose capital punishment base their philosophies around pure emotion rather than reason and logic. That is what liberals are, they just think that the ultimate morality is to be a "nice guy" but they have no implications for justice etc.
I agree, the death penalty is a mercy for certain crimes. It is cruel to punish any soul twice for the same crime. Life imprisonment does not overwrite the spiritual accountability for the crime whilst the death penalty does.
To do otherwise is like putting a plaster on a gangrenous leg instead of amputating it. Surely it is unjust to cause the patient all that pain?
It's not circular, at all. It makes perfect sense.
There's a flaw in your logic with your last sentence. You say that we place too much emphasis on this life and that the blessing of capital punishment is that those about to die realize this? But they're being killed exactly because they didn't place enough emphasis on the life of their victim(s). It's circular logic. They already didn't place emphasis on this life or they'd respect those they killed. Think about the victims not the killers!