You know the exact minute Dennis Skillicorn will die. At 12:01 a.m. his time, just a few hours from now, the State of Missouri will kill Dennis Skillicorn. When I go to sleep, he'll be alive. When I wake up, he'll be dead.
Skillicorn and his friends took part in a crime spree that involved the killing of 3 people. One of their victims, Richard Drummond, was the father of 3 girls. I have no comprehension of their pain.
We can all agree that Skillicorn was involved in an act of evil that drenched innocent people in agony. We can all agree that there are consequences to Skillicorn for his actions. But I cannot agree with killing him.
I believe the death penalty is wrong, for several reasons, but when applied to a real person like tonight the arguments are empty words. People, a man will be KILLED tonight in our names. A real live person.
Where are those who in other contexts want to "err on the side of life"?! I know no rational person who thinks it is morally WRONG to keep Skillicorn alive. So if there is even the CHANCE that killing him is wrong, shouldn't we err on the side of life?!
My beliefs tell me this man, even with the evil he committed, Dennis Skillicorn is Yahweh's child and we have no right to kill him. No right.
I ask you to take 1 minute of silence and meditate on this issue. 60 seconds of your day to contemplate both the pain of the Drummond family and the fruitless continuation of that violence by killing yet another person. Let it end...
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21 comments:
Well said DVD.
I've read you say that you separate god from religion. I understand that line of thinking. However, I would guess that someone who draws that line would put the Bible in the god category, not the religion. Regarding the subject of the current post, the Bible seems to be pretty pro death penalty. In the old testament, it commands it. In the new testament, it seems to accept it as the way things are without condoning or condemning it. So, from where do you personally draw your beliefs about the death penalty, and in what way do you reconcile them with the Bible? Thanks in advance for taking the time to reply.
Good post and I look forward to your response to JayEnEff's question.
I've yet to hear a compelling argument from someone who is both anti-abortion and pro-death penalty.
I could see the opposite, if one believes life begins at birth. In that case, they could see abortion as OK (not killing a living person) but the death penalty as murder.
In my opinion both scenarios end a life. The baby's potential life on earth, and the adult's current life and potential for it to continue.
This is a little off topic, but I would clearly put the bible in the religion category. I can't see how you say it is "god's word" unless you are supporting a particular religion and denegrating all of the others. Luckily for me, I don't believe in either. So I can firmly say that the state sanctioning someone's death to right some wrong is ridiculous and typical. The state feels that it has the right to say who lives, who dies and in what condition those people live or die. In my mind it is not a question of what does god say about this or that, it should be what is the real impact on a human being.
Steven Green is a former US soldier in Mahmudiya, Iraq. He and a few other soldiers broke into a private home where they killed the father, mother and one daughter before they gang raped the 14-year-old daughter and then killed her. After this last murder, he burned her body to try to cover up the crime. On Thursday, Green was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Iraqi citizens have been expressing outrage and claiming betrayal that Green did not receive the death penalty. I have to say, it would be hard for me to look them in the eyes and tell them they are wrong.
I have an idea Jeff. Why don't you look Green in the eye and tell him how you are going to kill him.
Stoning -http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0SO8ZrDUBlKUCkA9gL7w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTExdXVtbzQyBHBvcwMxNgR2dGlkA1YxMDUEc2xrA3RpdGxlBHNlYwNzcg--/SIG=13rhqf89j/EXP=1243259459/**http%3a//video.search.yahoo.com/video/play%3fp=stoning%26ei=UTF-8%26fr=fp-yie8%26tnr=21%26vid=00017250679
Beheading - http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0S00MzVUhlKgQAAWZ77w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTEwbTJhMGZkBHBvcwMzBHZ0aWQDVjEwNQRzbGsDdGl0bGUEc2VjA3Ny/SIG=14d71vb9c/EXP=1243259989/**http%3a//video.search.yahoo.com/video/play%3fp=execution%26n=21%26ei=utf-8%26js=1%26fr=fp-yie8%26tnr=20%26vid=0001195485177
Perhaps you have a favorite technique?
Taking a life is never okay. No matter how many horrible things he has done. I believe it was jesus who said let he who is without fault cast the first stone. He didn't say let he who hasn't done something as bad as this person cast the first stone.
JayEnEff: I think it's a good question about the Bible vs. god vs. religion. As one who would tend to separate god from religion, I think the Bible falls somewhere in the middle, as would the Torah and the Koran and other religious works. They are not the end of the story, they're just a way to share it. I look at the story of Jesus as a complete work and ask what is the greatest thing I should take from it. He tells us that is love.
It is not love to take an 'eye for an eye' as it says in the Old Testament or to stone a young woman for having sex before marriage.
Difficult as it is, I must choose to love Steven Green by not treating him the same way he treated his fellow human beings. I must love the family of those who were brutally murdered and raped by not allowing them to have blood on their hands - even though they cry out for it.
Anarchist in Boots, please consider changing it to Arrogance in Blogs. Congratulations on being the most enlightened one. So "taking a life is never okay," huh? Ironically, in your overly self assured rant against the death penalty, you managed to kill nuance.
"Never okay?" Really? Not in self-defense? Not when it truly could not be avoided due to extenuating circumstances beyond your control? I wouldn't dispute the tragedy of these situations, but what are their alternatives? My own death for the former and and impossibility for the latter.
So maybe you meant that the death penalty is never ok. That's a pretty strong statement considering there are several billion people in the world who would probably disagree with you. The fact is that, strong as it is, it is just your opinion. That I actually agree that killing is generally wrong doesn't matter either because it's just my opinion. Either way, the issue is complicated, and I believe it takes more than a firebrand to sort through.
Laurie Jo, you are a good writer and I enjoyed reading your post. I don't necessarily disagree, however. Personally, I don't believe the Bible is divinely inspired but I do think it is a pretty strong supporter of capital punishment.
Interesting discussion thread you started DVD. I agree with Laurie Jo about taking Bible and story of Jesus as a complete work. That’s a tall order though. I understand God is a God of grace. Loving, merciful and kind. I get that, and I focus on keeping that as the “main thing”. But he is a God of wrath as well. The wrath of God is mentioned over 600 times in the Bible. I can’t deny that part of the Bible either. Though I do believe the Bible is divinely inspired, I agree with jayeneff, it makes a pretty strong case for capital punishment.
However, I am against the death penalty. But for me it has more to do with the inconsistency of representation in our country. If you are a poor criminal be sure to do your crime in Wisconsin, where in 2002 over 67 million dollars was spent on indigent defense. Missouri in 2002 spent less than 32 million dollars on indigent defense cases even though we have a larger state with more cases. And, unlike Missouri, Wisconsin does not have the death penalty.
Some good (and some heated) discussion. We could spend years studying and discussing some of the topics raised here. We probably will...
I've been asked how I reconcile my opposition to the death penalty with my beliefs about the bible. Fortunately, I can respond without getting into the complexities of language, translation agendas, cultural differences, metaphors, etc. It seems from my reading that every time anyone was sure they had a specific question framed for Jesus that would elicit "the rule" or declare "the law" he turned it upside down, gave an answer that never satisfied the asker, and somehow brought it to unconditional love.
When it comes to this question of reconciling the bible and execution, I am reminded of the story in the Gospels where the crowd wanted to stone the woman. Certain of the law and confident in their morals, the crowd demanded Jesus' answer. At my best, I am nothing more than a part of that angry crowd. The least I can do today is drop my stone and go home.
I would like to share one anecdote about the inequities of the death penalty here in Missouri. Several years ago I stood in Missouri's gas chamber. To the left of chamber is a picture of every person who died in it. The high ratio of black faces to white faces is immediately noticeable.
Interesting that you "threw in" that little bit at the end DVD.
How many women were there?
Anon: Is it really "interesting" or are you passively-aggressively trying to say something?
I ask because use of the word "interesting" to mask someone's disapproval of a topic is rocketing up my list of pet peeves. If you (the general you not directed at Anon.) don't like something or have a point to make, just make the point. I know I have done this (and will continue to do it), but I am going to try to limit it and just say what I mean.
I just happened to click over to this blog post when I was visiting Casey's blog. 12 years ago when when my mother-in-law and sister-in-law were murdered and I was awaiting justice, I would have boldly declared that I was without a doubt for the death penalty. I thought his death would bring me peace. Unfortunately, he was found not-guilty for both these crimes, and now walks the street with the rest of us. Instead of thru his death, I have had to find peace thru forgiveness (which is only possible with grace). So now when I see other victim's families wanting the death penalty... I totally get their pain and yet I wonder if after it's all said and done if they will truly find peace...or if they too will also eventually need to find it thru forgiveness, as well. And then what was the point of taking another life? From personal experience, I am choosing love over death/justice. And leaving the rest in God's hands, 'cuz as you said, he is God's child.
Cathy, what a tragically unique perspective. Thank you so much for sharing. My heart goes out to you and your family. I am in awe of your choice...
Anon, you disrespect the other commenters with your comments. Please speak honestly, plainly and openly.
Sorry, didn't mean to disrespect anyone. I would proffer that YOU may be the one that is not being honest, plain or open.
Your ending quote, "The high ratio of black faces to white faces is immediately noticeable", seems to indicate that you believe the Death penalty, at least in Missouri, is somewhat racist. If so, let's have a discussion about that.
I would assume from your inference that an African American is more likely to get convicted to Death Row than a white person? If true, I'd be interested to hear the statistics on that.
The discussion here, seems to have traveled down a morality road, but you seem to have opened another aspect to the Death Penalty, that hasn't been discussed.
Here is some info, I found on the subject....
The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) reports that black murderers represent 35% of those executed, white murderers 56%. As the argument goes, this must be evidence of systemic racism, as blacks represent 12% of the population, whites 74%.
Fortunately, the United States does not execute people based on their population counts but on the murders they commit. As blacks represent 47% of murderers and whites 37%, we see that whites are twice as likely to be executed for committing murder as are their black counterparts. Furthermore, the Bureau of Justice Statistics says that whites sentenced to death are executed 17 months more quickly than blacks.
David, thanks for the comment and welcome to the discussion!
"Anecdotal" means "based on personal observation rather than systematic scientific evaluation" so be clearly labeling my personal story as such I never intended to mislead anyone. Your "strike-back" tone tells me I wounded you with my comment. I'm sorry, I am certain I could have worded my concern better. Truth-with-love in my communication is something I work every day to improve.
Thanks for the stats, I find them very interesting (in the actual sense of the word :)). I will leave it to you and others to debate the historic and systematic faults and inequities of the states' killing systems. Those are substantive discussions but, as you noted, not ones I personally have to have.
Cathy, amazing personal story of loss and forgiveness. Thank you. One question, and please feel free not to answer if you would rather not. You said, "Unfortunately, he was found not-guilty for both these crimes." Is that because you believe he was guilty or because it is unfortunate that they had tried an innocent man instead of the real murderer? Or some other reason?
DVD
I assumed since you "sort of" brought up the subject in an "anecdotal" way, you wanted to have that discussion.
I looked forward to your reasons why you thought it may be, etc. I misread your intent I guess.
I say "unfortunately" because I truly believe he is guilty of these crimes and our (imperfect) justice system failed to provide justice for their murders. There are no other leads and no other suspects. I might also add if our imperfect system finds a guilty man innocent, I've been forced to pause and consider how many innocent men have been found guilty (and sent to death row).
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