Vereschagian’s Painting Apotheosis of War (1871)
an early artistic expression of pacifism
I am guessing that the appeal will be denied, and ???? ???? ??? ?????? ???????? will be hung. As someone who opposes the death penalty and considers herself a pacifist (yes, even with a husband who’s job is nuclear deterrence, I get the irony) I am deeply saddened by yet another killing in a country that has seen quite enough for many lifetimes.
One of the paradoxes of pacifism that I mull over when these issues come to mind is the idea that the ends could justify the means; as in WWII stopping the Nazi killings of millions more had other countries not responded to the actions of the Nazi’s with violence of their own to stop the violence. Is it crazy for me to think that violence is wrong but also to see the points others make about it’s role in history? I GET that my ability to speak my mind is the result of the American settlers becoming violent in reaction to control by their European benefactors, I get that. But now, in the world I live in, I will always choose peace over war and violence. I am not anti-military, I am not a negative pacifist, but rather someone who holds strong beliefs about our roles as humans and how I feel that, at least I, should act towards my fellow humans (and often animals for that matter, but thats a whole other post).
Why? There are many reasons, I’ll try to state a few, so many that I could never articulate them all in a way I’d find satisfying.
Jesus was a pacifist, brought salvation to the world by turning the other cheek to the point of walking into a situation where he knew he’d be killed. On top of living by example he made it clear, he told us to turn the other cheek.
War (between countries, political and social entities, etc.) rarely if ever seems to accomplish the ends to which the initial agressers profess to care about, and honestly I see most if not all modern military conflicts as a result of the love of money on all sides.
Violence begets violence; even as I teach my daughter not to hit I would not hit her - it would give the message that only the powerful use violence, something I feel would be silly and wrong. Why would I support such actions from governments?
Violent actions by States (countries) to control it’s own citizens or those who disagree with it create an environment that lacks freedom and begets more violence.
I believe the Death Penalty is cruel and unusual punishment, unjust, not a reasonable retribution for any crime, does not deter crime, is used often as a tool of a government and even in governments who do not use it to their own purposes, is applied unfairly along social, racial, political and financial lines.
So, I’ll watch as many claim that the killing of this man shows others not to kill. I’ll know it’s a farce, as was a unstable and heavily questioned judicial process that convicted him. I’ll know that no dictator around the world will see CNN and think “wow, I better not kill anyone or when the Americans finally come after me they will make sure my countrymen kill me too.” I’ll know that some will claim they are given peace knowing he died as did their family members, but that his last moments will be spent as a man scared of death and his own killing will not bring back anyone he hurt or killed. I’ll be sad that our government, the new Iraqi government, governments around the world will support this as a example of the Iraqi people taking back their country, when really, they are merely mimicking the actions of a regime that suppressed them for oh so long.
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Interesting that you posted about this. I had been thinking about it since I read about the sentence, and I do not think itis a good idea.
Interesting that people always use Jesus and the turn the other cheek thing as an arguement against the death penalty. If you understood the Bible you would realize that “turning the other cheek” is for individual guidance not for goverment standards. Please note something else, Jesus DIED so you could have salvation, a rather violent death and I also believe that if we, as humans, stand by and let other “humans” terriorize and murder thousands of people, and do nothing in the name of peace, we, too, are guilty of the crimes.
I found your post interesting for several reasons and so I thought I would comment.
Jesus is a pacifist. While you wrote this as a statement of fact, it is merely an opinion and an opinion with little real factual support. Now I am not quite sure what you meant by a pacifist so I will use the term as defined by Webster, which states that a pacifist is one who is opposed to war or violence as a means of settling disputes, specifically a refusal to bear arms on moral or religious grounds and one who has an attitude or policy of non-resistence.
I would summit that Jesus was not and is not a pacifist, nor opposed to the death penalty. I would not normally make an argument based on scripture but seeing how we are discussing what Jesus was or was not, it seems both logically and prudent. In Matthew Chapter Five, Jesus states in verse 17. “Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” This verse seems to suggest that Jesus himself did come to destroy the law, which I interpret to mean Jesus did not come to change or rewrite the laws of the Bible but rather he came to fulfill existing prophecy. This verse would seem to suggest that Jesus, along with his life and teachings is not meant to contradict the teachings and writings of the Old Testament, but rather to add to and satisfy existing teachings.
Now we must determine whether or not the Bible allows or stands for the death penalty. The answer to this question is clearly yes. In Leviticus, Chapter 24 beginning with verse 17, the NIV version of the Bible states: “If anyone takes the life of a human being, he must be put to death. 18 Anyone who takes the life of someone’s animal must make restitution—life for life. 19 If anyone injures his neighbor, whatever he has done must be done to him: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. As he has injured the other, so he is to be injured. 21 Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a man must be put to death. 22 You are to have the same law for the alien and the native-born. I am the LORD your God.”
It must also be noted that according to the Bible, the punishment of death is not optional, the Bible requires such a response. In Numbers Chapter 35, beginning in verse 31 the NIV version states that:
31. Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. He must surely be put to death.
32 ” ‘Do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and so allow him to go back and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.
33 ” ‘Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
Last, we can look to what Jesus said himself about the death penalty. In Matthew Chapter 15 beginning with verse 3, Jesus states: “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother and Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death. In Mark Chapter 7, beginning with verse 10 states “For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother and, Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.”
On a final note, you stated that the death penalty does not deter crime. Consider this: Singapore and LA have nearly equal populations and yet 2 years ago, Singapore had 58 murders (nearly all followed by swift executions) while LA had 1,063.
Caleb.
You might be the smartest guy I’ve ever known.
And I like you enough to disagree with you and still get you a rockin’ Christmas gift.
I did make the mistake of stating my opinion of Jesus as fact.
Singapore…I’ve been there and found a lot of the people afraid of the Government who is always “watching” in a Big Brother fashion, 80% live in Government housing and the quality of life/education provided by the incredible tax rate make it a hard comparison, but one nonetheless. I think there may be many other factors that change the statistics including population size, average income…
Ah yes, Caleb… He’s the brother who thinks so well of himself and is learning to make a legal argument. Keep working at it, Caleb, you’re not there yet.
Given a skeptical mind, either position - for or against the death penalty — can be defended and, in turn, torn down. There is no perfect world.
-Tutu
p.s. but y’all keep trying to build one!
I go back and forth on this issue.
In the case of “He Who’s Name Will Only Be Written In His Native Tongue”, Death is far to just for him. And, I fear the backlash it will bring from those who will call his death a martyrdom.