Recently,
I read and reviewed Unoffendable, by Brant Hansen. Written from a Christian point of view, it deals with anger and, of course, being offended. You can read the review in the previous post. In it,
Hansen talks about the MYTH of righteous anger and how it has no place for a
follower of Christ. I wondered in light of the Boston Marathon bombing
and the guilty verdict that was reached against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, how this “righteous
anger” principle applies when considering the concept of capital punishment –
especially for the Christian. The trial is in the sentencing phase so I think this is a timely topic. The issue now is whether Tsarnaev should be
put to death for his part in this horrible crime.
When people think of a capital offense, this surely would be a
good fit. Tsarnaev and his brother used pressure cooker bombs to destroy the
lives of race participants and a crowd of onlookers. When the smoke cleared, three people lost
their lives and 264 people were injured - some very seriously including the
loss of limbs. Yes, it stirred up a
great deal of anger from all over the country and the world. Here are some
examples of that anger that I picked up in news stories and comments:
“Fight the good fight prosecutors and give this child-murdering Islamic terrorist the death penalty he so richly deserves.”
“Just kill the scum and get it over with Boston”
“So the Boston bomber kill 4 and injured over 200 and we are gonna give him a quick death? If it was up to me I would water board him”
These are natural reactions, aren’t they? Christians and nonbelievers alike are
sickened by such a crime. However, how
does God expect His followers to respond to this, with capital punishment? Apparently 75% of conservatives and half of Christians
say, yes. I would guess that for evangelicals, it is much higher since the
Catholic Church is against it.
God has authorized capital punishment all over the Bible . . . oh
wait, or is it just in the Old Testament?
That is troubling, isn’t it?
Christians don’t like it when nonbelievers throw Old Testament laws in
their face. Old Testament laws bring up
death penalty for any number of things including prostitution, and being a
rebellious son. If we are going to let
the Old Testament be our guide for our capital punishment views, how can we
ignore other Old Testament rules and punishments?
Christians like to look at the New Testament instead because it is
about Grace. Christ fulfilled all the
rigidity of Old Testament rules and laws and if we hitch a wagon to his star,
then we can rest in that Grace. So
shouldn’t we also extend that grace to others?
Should not that be our model? Does the new Testament support the idea of
capital punishment?
The simple answer is no. Christians like to point at a passage in
Romans that tells us to be willingly subjected to government authority. The other
passage is one in Acts where the apostle, Paul, subjects himself to government
authority even if it means his death.
Nowhere did it say that capital punishment is right and just under
grace. If Christians use this verse to
justify their clanging for capital punishment, then they also have to admit
that slavery is justified also because it is a comparable element under the
law. Just because Roman law had the
authority to put prisoners to death does not mean that the practice was
endorsed by God. Only the authority of the government was endorsed.
Getting back to Unoffendable,
Hansen doesn’t discuss capital punishment at all but here is what he did say:
“(Vengeance
is) His, and it makes senses, too, that we’re not allowed vengeance. Here is
one reason why: We stand as guilty as whoever is the target of our anger.
But God? He doesn’t. . . . Whatever anyone has done to me, or to anyone
else, I stand just as guilty. People have lied to me, but I’ve lied too, People
have been unfaithful to me, but I’ve been unfaithful too, People have hurt me ,
and I’ve hurt them. I get angry toward murderers, and then here comes Jesus,
telling me if I’ve ever hated someone - and I have I am the murderer’s moral equal.”
Does this concept not ring familiar? In John, chapter 8, the Pharisees and Scribes brought a woman to Jesus. She was caught red handed in the act of adultery. The law was clear. This woman was to be stoned. Jesus told them that whoever was without sin should cast the first stone at the woman. The Temple officials departed. Since all of the accusers left (because they were not clean themselves), Jesus pardoned her. Keep in mind, Jesus was the ONLY one that had the authority to cast that first stone. He chose to extend grace, instead.
How then can Christians be for capital punishment? Where’s the grace? I am not saying that horrible offenses shouldn’t be addressed. There are many reasons that, as a society, we cannot allow the offenders to walk freely on the street. However, doesn’t the death penalty take that concept too far? Apparently, Jesus thought so.
Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes were recently married. They each lost a leg during the Boston Marathon bombing. They made this statement regarding a potential death sentence for Tsarnaev, “We must overcome the impulse for vengeance.”
Also Jennifer Lemmerman, the sister of an M.I.T. police officer
who was killed by Tsarnaev, said she thought that the death penalty would bring
neither peace nor justice. She wrote on her Facebook page, “Whenever
someone speaks out against the death penalty, they are challenged to imagine
how they would feel if someone they love were killed. I’ve been given that
horrible perspective and I can say that my position has only strengthened,’’
I don’t know if Kensky, Downes, or Lemmerman are Christians, but
they sound more like what I would envision someone being influenced by Jesus
Christ, rather than those with torches and pitch forks that tend to shout some
modern day version of, “Crucify Him!”
