I try to keep my political posts to a minimum, but the “Tookie” Williams case merits a few words. I’m not going to talk about the question of his guilt or redemption. I just want to give you a few things to think about.
If we’re really a society with Christian values, why are we stooping to revenge? The death penalty is nothing but “an eye for an eye”. Isn’t there the whole “love thy neighbor” thing? And, in case you forgot, it specifically mentions revenge: “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.” (Lev 19:18)
Or, in case you are more secular: If you execute an innocent, isn’t that the same as murder? So you now have a legal provision that only works if the judicial system is 100% flawless - otherwise, you’ll commit an accidental murder from time to time. Of course, you can just say “Oops. My mistake.”. I’m just not sure it’s doing any good for the executed.
And even if the legal system were infallible - what the death penalty does is culling unwanted members from society, permanently. Do you really want anybody to wield the power to decide certain people are unwanted?
Tags: death penalty, ethics