Once again, Arminian theologian Roger Olson, who's easily the most commonly featured theologian at the Society of Evangelical Arminians, has chimed in on the subject of capital punishment:
I now want to repeat my long-standing opinion, expressed here several times, that Christians ought to oppose capital punishment as theologically and ethically wrong. Given some recent events, it is not a stretch to say it is also barbaric—evidence of a lack of civilization (humane society).
The oft-heard claim that "civilized" societies don't execute criminals begs the question. Indeed, it's a tacit admission that the death-penalty opponent can't present a reasoned argument for his position, so he falls back on the circular, sociological appeal.
I have given my reasons here before. I will only repeat two of them. First, it is simply not possible ever to know with absolute certainty that a person committed the crime of which he or she is accused. An individual eye witness may “know” with ninety-nine percent certainty, but it is impossible for a jury or a judge (not eyewitnesses) to know with one hundred percent certainty.
i) It's not possible to know with absolute certainty that murderous convicts won't escape to kill again.
ii) It's not possible to know with absolute certainty that liberals can be trusted to keep their word when they offer "life without possibility of parole" as an alternative to the death penalty. It's not possible to know with absolute certainly that furloughed prisoners won't commit murder.
And that isn't just hypothetical. For instance:
And the most controversial part of the program, the practice of giving furloughs to first-degree murderers sentenced to life without parole, was the result of a decision by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, which held that such inmates were eligible under the 1972 law that created the program because the statute did not exclude them.
For all of that, the Dukakis administration long supported, and at times actively defended, the practice of giving furloughs to inmates serving life terms without parole. In 1976 Mr. Dukakis refused to sign legislation that would have barred such prisoners from receiving furloughs and would have required a number of other restrictions.
A 1984 survey by the Corrections Compendium found that 38 states offered some form of home furloughs. A survey this year found that 33 states allow some kind of community release program for prisoners serving a life sentence, according to the compendium, which is published by the Contact Center, a criminal justice information clearinghouse in Lincoln, Neb.
But Massachusetts was the only state to permit furloughs for prisoners serving a sentence of life without parole, the penalty for first-degree murder in that state. 'Distinction Without a Difference'
In an interview last week Mr. Dukakis called that a ''distinction without a difference.'' He said that ''premeditated murder is premeditated murder,'' adding that 23 states permit people convicted of first-degree murder to participate in furlough programs.
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/05/us/prison-furloughs-in-massachusetts-threaten-dukakis-record-on-crime.html?pagewanted=print
iii) Likewise, the next step, after abolishing capital punishment, is to abolish life imprisonment:
iv) It's not possible to know without absolute certainly that a lifer won't murder a fellow inmate–or prison guard. Indeed, absent the death penalty, a lifer has nothing to lose by committing murder in prison.
Second, from a specifically Christian perspective, unnecessary killing is simply always wrong. And capital punishment today is always unnecessary. We have prisons fully capable of keeping violent people off the streets and away from potential victims.
The "necessity" of capital punishment is not to prevent crime (although that's a fringe benefit), but to exact justice. A moral necessity.
I will go so far as to say, as a Christian theologian, that, in my opinion, a person who participates in an execution is sinning. I do not know how God deals with that, but all sin is serious and killing especially so. (I do believe there are degrees of sin in God’s eyes and killing is certainly very serious.) I would warn a person who participates in an execution at any point in the process—from mixing the chemicals to be used to actually pushing down the plunger that sends the chemicals into the convicted person’s body—that he or she is grievously sinning and needs to repent and stop that activity.
Olson has gone into business for himself, concocting his own social morality, which he imposes on fellow Christians–without any divine warrant for his impudent moralizing and judgmentalism.
Thank you, Steve - a very insightful post. As always, I think that a denial of the death penalty is a denial of justice. A few questions, though:
ReplyDelete1) From what I understand of Vern Poythress' "The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses," he doesn't appear to believe that there is any place in the biblical worldview for a prison system (except maybe to hold people awaiting trial). Serious crimes (murder, rape, kidnapping, etc.) warrant the death penalty, while other crimes (theft, assault) warrant restitution. And if the thief or assaulter cannot afford to pay back the victim, they should be made to work off their debt.
That's the basic idea as I understand it. Do you agree with this point of view?
2) What do you think of the issue of the death penalty for homosexuals? I haven't much looked into this, all I can say is that James White appears to believe yes, while Poythress says no.
I agree with Poythress on (1).
Delete(2) is harder to say:
i) In general, capital punishment for OT crimes was the maximum penalty rather than a mandatory penalty.
ii) Some (not all) OT crimes were capital offenses due to the cultic holiness of Israel.
iii) Ideally, it would be preferable to practice friendship evangelism with homosexuals. Problem is, tolerance becomes a one-way street. They exploit our tolerance to shut us down.
iv) Finally, homosexuals prey on minors at a disproportionate rate. So there's a public safety issue. Protecting kids should be a priority.