Capital Punishment
THOUGHTS ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
I applaud the action of Florida Gov. Rick Scott in reassigning to another prosecutor the trial involving the execution/murder of Lt. Debra Clayton an Orlando police officer. The accused is a life-time career criminal who happens to be a black man and initiated the Orlando death spree by murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend Sade Dixon. In announcing the reassignment, Gov. Scott remarked that, “I am outraged and sickened by this loss of life and many families’ lives have been forever changed because of these senseless murders. These families deserve a state attorney who will aggressively prosecute Markeith Lloyd to the fullest extent of the law and justice must be served,”
Every sound-minded American and regardless of his/her race should be disgusted and appalled at the temerity of Florida State Attorney Aramis Ayala which forced her removal. Ayala arbitrarily, and in contravention of state law, boasted that she would not seek the death penalty in the two horrendous and calculated executions and cold-blooded murders. When her personal views were made known, she was asked by Gov. Rick Scott to recuse herself from the case. Immediately, Ayala announced in a news conference that not only would she not recuse herself but neither would she seek the death penalty. Ayala defended her decision on Thursday, saying capital punishment in Florida has led to “chaos, uncertainty and turmoil.” She argued that the evidence showed that the death penalty did not increase public safety and that it was not “in the best interest of this community or the best interest of justice.”
I would not be surprised if her brainless, immoral, and unjust assessments are not somehow connected to the possibility of making some political “hay.” Already, radical political activists groups such as BLM and with political racist hate mongers such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are alleging racial bias toward Mr. Lloyd. Attorney Ayala speaks of “justice!!” I wonder how it is that her concept of “justice” has been so twisted and distorted? What justice is there for the girl-friend that Lloyd murdered for no reason? What justice was there for her unborn child? What justice for the police officer who in the performance of her duty and after being critically wounded and no threat to Mr. Lloyd, was coldly executed simply because she was a police officer?
The constant claim of so many liberals is that capital punishment is intrinsically “unjust.” That is an absurd and unfounded conjecture. This is not to say that there is no place for reform in the implementation of capital punishment. Every possible safeguard in showing the indisputable guilt of the perpetrator should be diligently protected. In June of 1972, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty as it was currently imposed was “cruel and unusual” punishment. However, the court was sharply divided on the decision and, significantly, the ruling dealt only with the way capital punishment was dispensed. The ruling did not address the validity of the practice itself. In fact, the decision made clear the opportunity for the individual states to reinstate capital punishment for specific crimes. These crimes included such things as an assassination of a President, treason, the murder of a police officer, or the murder of a person during the commission of a felony.
It is wrong that still today, there is a disproportionate number of those who are poor or underprivileged and who are on death-row compared to the murderers who are wealthy, or socially or politically connected. But the inequality of enforcement and the lack of consistency in different jurisdictions do not negate the premise and value of the practice.
The Biblical demand or validity of capital punishment was never intended to be found in the desire for personal human revenge. Neither was it ever meant to be a deterrent to murder even though that may be a peripheral result. Instead, God intended it to verify the sacredness of human life that is created in the image of God Himself. It was always referenced to divine justice.
The most basic necessity for capital punishment is that it places within the purview of human government the responsibility to act for God in the dispensing of His justice and vengeance. Without the consistent and equitable enforcement, society will have no remedy nor way to minimize the natural inclination toward human revenge and vigilantism. Regardless of claims to the contrary, a careful study of all the bible including the New Testament, and the teaching of Christ, does not prohibit capital punishment. There is not a single verse that mandates such restriction. It can be argued conversely, its prohibition would incite ever greater disrespect for the sacredness of life and thereby, increase the incidences of personal revenge. You made the right decision, Governor Scott.
I would like to hear your assessment of how this would apply to "war criminals" ie. those that "murder" while following illegal orders and who, far from being vilified, are often lionized.
Along this train of thought, most wars fought by your country's military have been unconstitutional and therefore illegal.
If you don't agree with the premise that most wars have been unconstitutional, then I will submit that clearly at least "some" have been so.
There are, therefore, large numbers of murderers hiding behind(current or former) uniforms. Does your rationale apply to them?
Rules for engagement, killing combatants, and war crimes are of a different nature and jurisdiction. Any unlawful killing is an act of murder and will follow the perpetrator until answered for. This may be before or at war's end or at the final judgment of God. I remember the shame brought upon our military at the Mai Lai massacre during the Vietnam War.
I don't think that you have addressed my concern. It has to do with illegal wars, not declared by Congress, and my assumption that anyone who does not refuse to kill in such a war is a murderer when he does so. Did not the Nuremberg trials after World War II make this apparent? Illegal (uncosntitutional) orders MUST be disobeyed.
"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." -Winston Churchill
Thank you for your faithful service, Deplorable.
And same to you :-)
We are of course talking about the "rough men who would do us harm". It is incumbent upon every ethical person not to obey their orders! There is absolutely nothing wrong with defending against aggression. What is wrong (under a Non Aggression Principle ethical standard) is to initiate aggression or follow the orders of those who do.
It is very difficult to respond to you as you have extreme and unreasonable views. Many have fought and died in war for your right to be wacky.. so enjoy it! Take Care :-)
I am sorry but you misunderstood Mr. Churchill.
I must wonder, did you disobey such orders when you were serving in our military? When serving, I called in airstrikes when requested...I felt I was doing the right thing...at least my conscience was not offended. I may have been responsible for the death of many enemy combatants. I do admit this that if I had been a "grunt" instead of a cryptologist/communication specialist and I was looking in the face of an enemy who was trying to kill me, I am sure that I would have done whatever I could have to preserve my life or the life of my fellow soldiers. I am not a student of government enough to make the calls that you apparently feel that you are qualified to make, and therein, I have not had the inclination, nor the knowledge, nor the temerity to declare certain wars or armed conflicts which America has been involved in that are in your assessment "illegal"..I was a soldier in the Viet Nam era....I was injured and am an amputee and rated 100% war service connected disabled. I know about Grenada, OIF, and the current war in Afghanistan since my son was injured in Iraq and is still in recovery. But I certainly cannot accept your assessment that a military person sent on a combat mission in an undeclared war and at the command of his superiors is a war criminal. The men and women that I served with and that my son served with and who are now serving were/are overwhelmingly men/women of integrity, honor, and good character who only wanted to be loyal and get back home. It does bother me much that you apparently can imply that my son who only did his duty as he saw it and will now suffer the physical and emotional wounds of that awful war for the rest of his life is in your estimate a "war criminal." I don't like feeling what I am feeling right now toward you or your theory . I guess it is best that we simply agree to disagree.
Well said!
Well written and wise words :-)
“Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” - Ecclesiastes 8:11
Be Blessed.
Thank you, Christian.trail...great reminder from Ecclesiastes.
My brother married his beautiful bride. While on their honeymoon my wonderful brother was robbed shot in the head six times and stabbed, his beautiful bride had her throat slit by career criminals who were convicted for violent crimes twice before but put back out on the streets.
My mother was never the same after that day.
I will be curious to hear the comments.
Very sad and heartbreaking story...This is one of the main reasons for capital punishment...It removes much of the desire for vengeance on the part of the aggrieved family. If this had happened to my brother and his wife, I and many others, would expect vengeance by the government...lest I should feel impelled to exert my own retribution.
I oppose the death penalty.
But I see your point - if it is on the books in Florida, this probably was the case where the DA should have sought it.
I am glad it was Gov. Scott who had to make that decision rather than me....Even though I still believe there are occasions when it must be mandatory....A story from WIlkensburg, PA a few months ago of a little 5 year old girl who was abducted and sexually abused until she died...was nearly more than I could bare to read . The perp could not even claim to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. I believe I could have pushed "the button" in that case.
Concur. Capital punishment serves a God ordained function in society to constrain the evil in men.
Romans 13:3-4 KJVS
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: [4] For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Amen!
Deuteronomy 21:18-21King James Version (KJV)
18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
20 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.
21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
Now I wonder if someone would stone his child for being rebellious? The death penalty is useless, the people who are condemned to death are carefully picked, and you know what, if I kill someone with a bullet because I hate him, he's just as dead as if I had unwittingly run him over with a car. So I think if you are going for the death penalty it's all the way or nothing, you either apply life for life or don't, anything else is Hypocrisy.
God didn't say it is useless....neither has six thousand years of human tradition precluded it from usage....So I think it may be wise to correct the abuses but still to accept the principle of Capital Punishment. By the way you are over your head I think in your exegesis of the passages in Deuteronomy.
Why would I be over my head, it is in Deuteronomy, you might not like it but it's there. And also I didn't say God said it is useless, I am the one saying that. See I don't believe in the bible, (I do believe in a Creator) I was just quoting from it to make the point that if you look deep enough into the bible you will find a passage that fits any purpose the one in deuteronomy is exact for the death penalty, you just have to be rebellious to deserve it.
You are over your head in that you presume to instruct from the Bible which you say you don't even believe. I wonder if you have ever read the bible through. The fact is the bible will judge you one day instead of you judging it. You assume this son is a "child" or young boy who is guilty of only being ornery, when clearly he isn't. He is a full grown man. He is is a determined [stubborn], rebellious, and habitual drunkard [v.20]. The son is rebellious not only to his parents but also to God.Though the nature of the rebellion is not clearly stated the implication is that of some grievous and major sin such as blasphemy or other sin worthy of death at that point in Jewish history. The consequences of this rebellion are apparent in home and community. Every warning and admonition are unheeded by the son [v.18.] It is required that the parents present their son to civil authorities [v 19] and indicate the nature of the crimes. The execution then comes from the community because ultimately the son's crime affects the entire community [v.9.] By the way, the absolute right of parents to control and even kill their offspring was far more cruel and unrestricted in other ancient cultures including the Assyrians, Persians, Greeks and Romans. God greatly restricted or much mitigated this abuse among the Hebrews.
Interesting take. I'll say I'm glad I'm not the one who has to make these decisions, but I think you aren't considering every angle. In this particular case, the evidence may seem cut and dry, but that's not so in every case.
I'd like to say that we have a Justice system here in this country, but most of the time we have a punishment system. People are very often convicted and later found to be not guilty. The felony conviction rate in this country is somewhere in the 99%, depending on whose statistics you look at.
I highly doubt the police are right 99% of the time. It's actually a form of slavery. Mostly poor people are charged with crimes and threatened with outrageous sentences but offered "leniency" if they plead guilty. They spend a few years in a work farm, called prison, where the share holders make a profit from the low wage labor. Those shareholders are often politicians, lawyers, and even judges.
While I'll admit that's not applicable in the case of death sentences, it begs the question as to whether or not the "justice" system in this country is capable of performing its duties.
As to the Bible, I'm convinced that members of the Kingdom of Heaven aren't supposed to be involved in dominating others, which is intrinsic to the nature of government. It's a civil matter. As Christians we should be prepared to forgive, like Jesus did. Self sacrifice doesn't condemn.
The Bible also very clearly demands civil governments to enforce justice, and threatens severe repercussions if they fail to do so.
So, while in theory I do not want my stolen tax federal reserve notes to pay for some murderer to be housed and fed for decades, I'm also not enthusiastic about them being used to kill someone who is innocent.