Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Monday April 18, 2011

I hope you are not in the mood for a warm, fuzzy shot in the spirit today. If so, while today's article will help you focus and in many cases refocus on the importance and sureness of God's justice, I doubt if any warm fuzziness abides in my rumination today.

As a student of the of the practice of lawmakers making laws for the peasants that differ from the laws that govern the high and mighty politicos, I find a heart sickening refusal to deal with the biblical solution to what is a major flaw in certain laws under which I, a confessed peasant must live.

The Governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn, recently signed a law that abolishes the Death Penalty in his state. He did so, not on moral grounds as he does not find the infliction of death reprehensible for crimes defined by civilized society from time immemorial, but rather was deeply troubled by the unfair manner in which the decision in his fair state was being reached. Former Governor George Ryan had reached the same conclusion several years ago.

Jennifer Grant wrote an insightful piece in Christianity Today, which you may read in its entirety here:

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/04/rethinking_the_death_penalty.html

MS. Grant pointed out the Governor's thinking on the subject by quoting him:

"Since our experience has shown that there is no way to design a perfect death penalty system, free from the numerous flaws that can lead to wrongful convictions or discriminatory treatment, I have concluded that the proper course of action is to abolish it." MS. Grant quotes figures from The Death Penalty Information Center which show in the last 38 years 130 people have been found to be innocent after spending years on death row. The arguments today are not about the moral/legal right to exact the ultimate penalty, but weather it is currently abused in such ways that innocent people are being put to death. Some of the reasons more people are discovered to be innocent are issues such as eyewitness error, false confessions by mentally ill persons, DNA and most horrific of all, prosecutorial misconduct. It is true to state that more and more cases of prosecutorial misconduct are being discovered. Believe it or not Moses deals with such sadistic behavior in Deuteronomy 19:18-20:

And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother; Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you. And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.

I am not among those, some well-meaning that on the whole say, "Well, I don't mind if an innocent person is executed." Innocent blood will cry from the ground weather it is the blood of innocent unborn children via the scalpel used as an implement of execution or the false testimony of a witness or, God forbid the deliberate maneuvering of prosecutorial misconduct.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2011 Use with credit

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