[Vision2020] Religious Diversity Education

[Luke]

Hello, Mr. Moffett:


> >I do believe in the death penalty, and I don't dodge the fact that there
is
> >controversy over this topic throughout our nation. But the death penalty
is
> >a side issue;
>
> I am talking about the debate within Christianity on the death penalty.
Is
> not one of the Ten Commandments "Thou Shall Not Kill?"  Of course I know
> that this can be interpreted to mean "Do Not Murder" but this just begs
the
> question, when the State takes the life of another human being who is
locked
> up and not a danger to society, is this murder?  kIlling in self defense
is
> not the issue here.

    There have been a considerable number of murderers who have been locked
up, then broke out and killed again. Serial killers are truly a threat to
society, behind bars or not, but they also took away something from someone
that cannot be given back. They no longer deserve the right to breathe once
they've stopped another human's heart.
    BTW, I've never actually met another Christian who thought that the
death penalty was wrong. It seems more of a leftist position.


> But you think the State killing someone in cold blood is a side issue?
What
> sort of morality do you really represent?

    Oh, it's important, all right. I was saying that it was a side issue to
our discussion. We were debating how difficult it was to understand the Ten
commandments, not whether the death penalty is right. Although there is a
debate over that, it doesn't come because people read the T. C.'s and said,
"?"  It comes from someone actually disobeying the command to not murder.


> You are absolutely wrong!  How about that for certainty!  I do not support
> the death penalty, and if you killed someone I loved it is possible I
would
> lose my temper and take you apart, but that is entirely different than
> giving the State the power to kill in cold blood in a jail, which is what
> supporting the "death penalty" means.

    I believe you are incorrect. I don't know a whole lot about the legal
system, but my understanding is that first you went through something called
a trial, where a jury decides what penalty there will be for a crime. The
State has no power to enforce the death penalty unless the verdict is guilty
as charged (unless, of course, the defendant was foolish enough to opt out
of a jury trial, or he knew he was guilty and pled accordingly). The
principle behind the courtroom, which you will hear in any trial, is
innocent until proven guilty. And if someone kills a loved one of yours, you
will try to prove them guilty, Mr. Moffett.
    BTW, Idaho's methods of authorized execution are lethal injection and a
firing squad. Just so you know...

> Perhaps I can suggest that you are an empiricist of a sort when you assert
> that your absolute code of conduct and morality comes from a book which
you
> believe to be divinely revealed.  Therefore the empirical data that are
the
> foundation for your belief system are contained in the Bible.  You will
only
> accept what you can determine when the Bible is under your microscope.  No
> facts from the Bible, no religion.

    If you mean that I am a Christian because my ears heard the gospel or my
eyes read the Bible, then of course. All of us use our faculties to gather
information about the world around us - it's known as the Five Senses.
You're using them right now to read this post. But that's not the same thing
as denying the existence of something unless you can chemically diagram and
manipulate it, which is empiricism.

Sincerely and respectfully,
Luke Nieuwsma

P.S. I think for a long time I've been spelling your name with only one
't' - it was completely unintentional, just so you know. I am not trying to
mock you