Because of my strong pro life position, I am often asked about my beliefs in regards to Capital Punishment. While this subject is not something I am passionate about, I decided to post my position on this subject because the question continually surfaces. From my perspective, there are two dimensions to this question. First…what my belief is on the subject. Second…the reasons behind the question in the first place.

My Belief…

I support Capital Punishment. As you know if you have read my postings for any length of time, I do my best to rely on scripture to answer all the “tough” ethical questions. I believe that Capital Punishment, is not only supported by scripture, but the practice itself was a directive from God. He gave governments this responsibility to carry out justice. I could write quite a bit on this, but others have articulated this argument well and I am not passionate enough about this to reinvent the wheel so if you are interested in this topic from a scriptural perspective, I’ll refer you to this article.

I do not ever see myself lobbying for capital punishment though. My heart is passionate about defending the innocent and in a country where we slaughter our children by the millions, I already have my work cut out for me lobbying for the “least of these”.

When I am talking to people about abortion, quite often pro choicers will start weighing in on the minorities (What about rape? What about incest? What about threat to mother’s health?). The same distraction dynamics occur in this discussion. The question is “What about those who have been executed who later were found to be innocent?”. While all the “minority” issues, are definitely worthy of examination, they represent a very small percentage of the whole and the “tail shouldn’t wag the dog” on these subjects. They should not sidetrack away from the heart of the majority issues. I am a “Keep the main thing the main thing” kinda gal.

In this example though, I will say that BECAUSE I believe in defending the life of the innocent, I do believe that Capital Punishment is only in order for cases where there is NO question as to the guilt of the accused. I, too, find it horrifying that a case could get to a sentence of execution and the end result be termination of an innocent person. I wouldn’t “throw the baby out with the bathwater” on this subject though. I believe Capital Punishment is a just end result for those with no regard for human life who would violently brutalize and murder.

Moving on to WHY this question is asked…

I have had people ask me about my capital punishment position for years but the incident that stands out the most in my mind occurred in Wisconsin in 2002. Wisconsin Right for Life had flown us out from Arizona to come testify on behalf of an embryo protection bill (you can see our testimony here). Our testimony appeared to be very well received by most. While I was speaking, I could see the emotions at play in the eyes of those before me. Some even had tears streaming down their cheeks. There were a few though that had completely hardened their hearts to the plight of these unborn babies. One representative in particular was struggling with our position. When I was finished speaking, he looked around the courtroom and in a voice subtle but loud enough to be heard said “The same people who are always Pro-Life are also the same one’s that are Pro Capital Punishment”. And then he laughed in amusement…”how utterly hypocritical and inconsistent” his mocking laugh echoed.

I stared at him in amazement. Every bone in my body was begging me to jump from the seat and respond to him. Out of respect for the order of the court and the process, I remained quiet. THIS is what I wanted to say though:

“Sir, I also find this conversation to be inconsistent. It is very interesting and thought provoking to me that you lobby an accuasation of hypocrisy. Let’s review the facts in this case. I lobby for the right of life for the innocent and I support capital punishment for the guilty who would violate them. You sir lobby for the right of the guilty while supporting laws that result in death to the innocent. That sir is the very epitomy of inconsistent illogical thinking.”

My case submitted:)….

P.S. In reference to the rape, incest, health to mother in regards to the abortion issue…no I do not support abortion in these instances in case you were wondering. I’ll write about that sometime. I do acknowledge though that there are rare cases when it is impossible to save both mother and child and one life is causing the terminal demise of the other. In these cases, I believe we have to do our best to protect whichever life can be protected. While it may result in death for one (mommy or baby), the heart of the choice is life giving as without intervention both would be lost.