Thursday, April 25, 2013

Death and Penalties

So we have Dzhokhar Tsarneav in custody, a kid with a charge of “using a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death.” It’s an impressive crime, insofar as crimes can be impressive, but I kinda wished they tacked on a possession of marijuana charge for good measure. As it is, this kid either faces life in prison or the death penalty, which got me thinking more about the surviving Boston marathon bomber.

First, there’s way too much unneeded discussion on the guy. I know the 24 hour news cycle needs to fill time and I’m as tired of Justin Bieber stories as he next guy, but it’s already starting to sound like the bomber is a victim in the narrative. Frankly, I don’t care if the surviving bomber came from a culture where brothers stick together and was stuck with a manipulative extremist sibling. I don’t care if he came from a hostile environment, was indoctrinated or was born with a dusting of psychopathy. We are all victims of our brain chemistry, genes, upbringing and surroundings--that doesn’t lift responsibility off the guilty. If these topics matter, we need to address them with solutions in mind that can be applied to our future safety. If his culture is the problem, the culture should be changed. If Islam promotes extremism, then Muslims should fix that or the rest of us should judge them accordingly. I don’t know what parts of the story are true anymore, but it applies to all the acts of violence in the news from here to the dawn of man.

My second thought is this: how are Christians supportive of the death penalty? While not all Christians are conservative and not all conservatives approve of capital punishment, there’s no argument that there isn’t massive overlaps in this ideological Venn Diagram. Not only do Christians need to ignore everything their namesake preached from “turn the other cheek” to “love thy enemy,” they also are taking responsibility for hastening the criminals decent into hell without a fair shot at forgiveness. I don’t mean forgiveness from society, I mean forgiveness from the Almighty in which they believe.

Ironically, atheists are generally liberal who are generally against capital punishment. I don’t have the hold up of breaking a divine law that transcends humanity. “Thou shalt not kill” is an awesome guideline, but I can waive it when taking a serial killer permanently off the board. Apparently Christians can waive it too, but only hypocritically. Not only do they endorse infinite torture for finite crimes by worshipping the God who instates it, they do their best to limit the chances of rehabilitation/confession/conversion/whatever they believe is necessary to enter the Kingdom of God. It really boggles my mind that these types of Christians claim the moral high ground on anything.

8 comments:

  1. The commandment in the Bible says "thou shalt not murder", the Bible is filled with commands to kill people for violating the law. There's nothing wrong with Christians, from their own perspective, to be pro-death penalty. There's no reason for anyone not to be unless they are operating wholly emotionally.

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    1. The Old Testament has commands to kill people for violating the law, but Jesus specifically spoke against it the majority (if not all) of the time and Jesus is what makes Christians Christians.

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    2. Jesus also said that not one bit of the law has been changed.

      Matthew 5:18: "For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."

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    3. Sadly, many xians that that Matthew 5:18 verse to be fulfilled in the death and resurrection story. Many I know use this to dismiss the "law" and see it more as guide lines that they can bypass when its convenient and uphold when it suits them.

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  2. "they do their best to limit the chances of rehabilitation/confession/conversion/whatever they believe is necessary to enter the Kingdom of God."

    What do you mean by this? My understanding is that many people in jail convert to Christianity. (granted, it's quite possible that they do it because they think it will result in leniency from the people around them). Are you just saying that by killing them, they have less chance to accept Jesus, or is there some push to keep people from converting while in prison?

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    1. I was saying that by ending their life sooner they have less time to convert or rehabilitate.

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  3. Cognitive dissonance is a significant problem with adherence to many philosophic versus social positions. Stewardship versus mastery over the planet is another area, IMO.

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  4. The death penalty and miscarriage of justice is a very interesting topic in itself. But as you have laid out very well in this article. it is a conflict of morals when a christian supports the death penalty.

    I have tried to explain this to my mother on several occasions, but she disagrees as she says there is to much evil in the world. But is the death penalty not evil? eventually I just gave up.

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