Right for all the Wrong Reasons

The death penalty has been in the news for the last few days here in Arkansas. A couple of cases have been called in to question and executions have been delayed. So it’s got me thinking about the death penalty, and I am against it.

There are a number of good reasons to be against the death penalty:

1. Life is sacred and should be protected at all costs
2. It is an arbitrary punishment. Two people can commit identical crimes and one may be sentenced to death while the other gets life in prison
3. There is no way to take it back if evidence later proves the person was innocent.

So there are lots of legitimate and even admirable reasons to be against the death penalty. Alas, my reasons may be as legitimate, but perhaps not very admirable.

I am against the death penalty because the people who receive it are the very worst example of humankind. They have destroyed not only the lives of the people they killed, but often the lives of everyone who ever loved their victim(s). The ripple effect of the destruction that occurs in the commission of a violent crime is impossible to measure.

But I also believe in a loving and merciful God. I believe that there is nothing that we can do that can separate us from the love of God. I don’t believe that heaven will be my home because of anything I have done, but because of what God has done through Jesus Christ. I believe that everyone, no matter what s/he has done, has the opportunity to receive forgiveness from God.

God is all loving and forgiving, but I am not. I think that people who have done irreparable damage to this world should have to hang around this life for a while before they get a shot at the next. Since I’m not a believer in purgatory, I like the idea of some prison-time limbo imposed here on earth. I really want them to have a taste of hell before they get a chance at heaven. Not very admirable or loving or forgiving of me.

I just may be the most mean-spirited anti-death penalty advocate around. I believe it's wrong to kill, but I'm okay with certain people being miserable. Not my best moment, is it?