We got into a discussion in a Sunday School class that touched on the death penalty. I raised the question as to whether it was biblical to continue to support a practice that is inequitably applied in this country. Go and ahead and tell me I'm getting soft headed in my dotage. Tell me I listen to NPR too much and read the wrong books. Whatever...

While the discussion centered on the race issue, government statistics show that there are more whites on death row than blacks and that more whites have been executed than blacks in recent years.

Amnesty International has this to say:

“As long as the death penalty is maintained, the risk of executing the innocent can never be eliminated. Since 1973 123 US prisoners have been released from death row after evidence emerged of their innocence of the crimes for which they were sentenced to death. There were six such cases in 2004, two in 2005 and one in 2006. Some prisoners had come close to execution after spending many years under sentence of death. Recurring features in their cases include prosecutorial or police misconduct; the use of unreliable witness testimony, physical evidence, or confessions; and inadequate defense representation. Other US prisoners have gone to their deaths despite serious doubts over their guilt. The state of Florida has the highest number of exonerations: 22.

The then Governor of the US state of Illinois, George Ryan, declared a moratorium on executions in January 2000 which remains in force. His decision followed the exoneration of the 13th death row prisoner found to have been wrongfully convicted in the state since the USA reinstated the death penalty in 1977. During the same period, 12 other Illinois prisoners had been executed. In January 2003 Governor Ryan pardoned four death row prisoners and commuted all 167 other death sentences in Illinois.” 

Is it biblical for Christians to continue to support the death penalty in this country when these conditions exist? Recent much publicized examples of wealthy people who have beaten the rap (O.J. Simpson, Phil Spector) only serve to point to the inequities in the system. Wealthy people have access to “dream teams” of attorneys who have virtually unlimited resources to put on a defense.  Poor people bear the brunt of the death penalty because they do not have these kinds of resources.  Prosecutors of such cases are under intense media scrutiny and this pressure can often lead to missteps that might not be made in lower profile cases. These missteps usually help the defense.

The Scriptures are replete with passages that teach equity in justice, not taking bribes, not treating people differently because of their perceived status or lack thereof. When the deck is clearly stacked against the “little guy”, how can we continue to support the death penalty in its current form?

Imperfect obedience (pretty much the only kind we can offer) is better than none, but the finality of an execution leaves no room for error.  How can Christians continue to support the death penalty while ignoring the issues that lead to its very flawed implementation? Time and again I am reminded of Jesus’ words to the Pharisees: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others    Matthew 23:23.

We don’t have the luxury of saying that the state should continue to execute people while we work on the other issues – poverty, injustice, inequity, corruption. This is not exalting love over justice or NT over OT, its about being faithful to the whole counsel of God.