[Vision2020] Baptist Theologian Calls for Abolition of Death Penalty

[keely emerinemix]

David Gushee is the kind of Baptist you never hear much about -- Biblically 
faithful and, because of it, entirely able to see the horror that is capital 
punishment.  I first came across his work when I was a member of 
Evangelicals for Social Justice, founded by another of my heroes, Ron Sider. 
  Sider's seminal work, "Rich Christians In An Age of Hunger," was answered 
by the reconstructionists (the followers and heirs of Rushdooney, North, et 
al) with "Productive Christians In An Age Of Guilt-Mongers."  I think that 
explains all I pretty much needed to know about the cesspool of theology 
known as reconstructionism, and if I weren't an evangelical, writers like 
Gushee and Sider would make me seriously consider becoming one.

keely


From: <nickgier at adelphia.net>
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Baptist Theologian Calls for Abolition of Death 
Penalty
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 10:38:19 -0800

Professor David Gushee, Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy at Union 
University in Jackson, Tennessee, called for a national halt to executions 
because the death penalty as a public policy "fails the most basic standards 
of justice." Prof. Gushee, writing for the Associated Baptist Press, stated 
that the recent  moratorium in Tennessee surrounding lethal injection 
problems should be extended to review the entire application of the death 
penalty, and that other states should take similar action.

Prof. Gushee wrote:

In a move that received very little attention, Gov. Phil Bredesen recently 
suspended all executions in Tennessee until May, pending a full review of 
what he called our “sloppy” execution procedures. The governor is to be 
commended for this brave and wise decision.

But I suggest that he take this opportunity to review not just the execution 
procedures, but the entire application of the death penalty in this state. 
That will take far longer than a few months. We need a death penalty 
moratorium—not just in Tennessee but in all states.
When the Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that states could resume executions, 
they mandated that any state doing so must apply this ultimate penalty in a 
fair and consistent, rather than arbitrary and capricious, manner. No one 
can honestly look at the current application of the death penalty in 
Tennessee and believe that we have met that test.

Tennessee’s death-penalty sentencing is rife with error. Half of all death 
sentences in our state are overturned on appeal due to serious 
constitutional error, according to a study by the Tennessean. That number 
does not include those sitting on death row who are, in all likelihood, 
innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. One example is Paul 
House, awaiting execution for over 20 years despite uncontested DNA evidence 
that he did not rape the woman he was accused of murdering (rape being the 
state’s theory of the crime). In June 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court found 
that “viewing the record as a whole, no reasonable juror would have lacked 
a reasonable doubt.”

Then there’s the way that race affects the use of the death penalty. It is 
really no coincidence that public-opinion polling finds far less support for 
capital punishment among blacks than among whites. National studies 
repeatedly find both race-of-perpetrator and race-of-victim bias in 
death-penalty sentencing. In Tennessee and most states, racial/ethnic 
minorities are vastly over-represented on death row, and a full quarter of 
African-Americans on Tennessee’s death row were sentenced by all-white 
juries.

Besides race, social class is another distorting factor in the use of the 
death penalty. If you don’t have money for an attorney, your goose is 
cooked. In Tennessee, nearly every one of the 102 people on death row could 
not afford an attorney at trial. With all due respect to our public 
defenders, if my life were on the line I would want the best private 
attorney that money could buy. But that is not an option for almost anyone 
who faces this situation in our state—with predictable results.

We have to be careful and systematic in our thinking here. It is not logical 
to respond to this evidence by affirming one’s visceral support for the 
principle of life-for-life. Fine, for argument’s sake, let’s grant that 
for a moment. Would not such a passion for justice also require the fair 
application of this penalty? Would we not also want to assure such basics as 
the actual guilt of the people we are executing, the class-blind and 
color-blind application of this penalty and the opportunity for adequate 
legal representation? Would we also want to be sure that the people we are 
executing are morally responsible for their actions, rather than clinically 
insane, as are a number of our death row inmates?

Nationally, the application of the death penalty is about as rational and 
orderly as who wins the lottery. Thousands of people murder and are murdered 
each year. A small number of (mainly southern) states execute the great 
majority of those convicted of murder. Evidentiary requirements vary. Which 
particular types of murder are eligible for capital sentencing vary. Appeals 
processes vary. Quality of legal representation varies. In the end, a small 
percentage of convicted murderers get the death penalty, and an even smaller 
group is actually executed. And more and more, across the country, DNA 
evidence is showing up to exonerate a significant minority of those 
executed. How many innocent executed persons is too many?

It would take another column to review the biblical arguments, which in the 
South are a profound factor in support for the death penalty. Even if we 
were to take the Old Testament alone as our guide, it requires the 
eyewitness testimony of two or three witnesses (Deut. 17:6), a stricter 
standard than our own. It also requires that the justice system “not show 
partiality” (Deut. 16:19) and therefore that every accused person be 
treated similarly. And this is not even to consider the profound issues 
raised by the New Testament’s focus on mercy.

As of now, at least, the death penalty is a public policy that fails the 
most basic standards of justice. It is time for a moratorium and a 
comprehensive review.
(Associated Baptist Press, February 8, 2007).

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