we need not choose death

Tomorrow, the 10th of October, will be the eighth World Day against the Death Penalty. This year, it is dedicated to the United States, which last year executed 52 people and handed down 106 death sentences. The US and Japan are the final two democracies among the world’s developed nations who still actively execute people. In Europe, only Belarus carries out capital punishment—and no one would mistake Belarus for a democracy. Even Russia has had no executions since 1999.

In carrying out the death penalty, we remain in the same category as China, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Zimbabwe. The trend worldwide is toward abolition. The US stubbornly remains on the wrong side of history.

Aside from the numerous political reasons to abolish the death penalty, for me, the most profound is spiritual. As a Christian, I follow one who was executed by the state.

(The image is by Yhonnie Scarce at http://mebehindcamera.blogspot.com/2007/10/world-day-against-death-penalty.html)