[Vision2020] Baptist Theologian Calls for abolition of justice.

Tony tonytime at clearwire.net
Wed Feb 21 10:59:20 PST 2007


Keely, just a quick note to advise you how your misguided enthusiasms get 
people maimed and killed.  Your insistence on avoiding execution in response 
to capital offenses only leaves the door open for escape or in most cases an 
all to early release, followed by the all too common re-offense.  An 
acquaintance of mine was tending her convenience store some years ago when a 
paroled murderer from Texas walked in the door and demanded cash at the 
point of a twelve gauge.  When Jean did not immediately comply, he unloaded 
a point-blank blast into her belly.  She was scooped off the floor amid a 
puddle of her own blood and BARELY survived the experience, suffering 
circulatory problems and pain to this day and no doubt until the day she 
dies.  The punk who almost killed her had been convicted of first degree 
murder and been freed after only four years by leftists like you, Keely. 
Had this sociopathic prick been fried for his first offense, Jean would have 
been saved immeasurable anguish.  But no, latte' sipping libs must 
congratulate themselves for standing up for the rights of killers, so 
citizens across the country continue to pay the price for the naive idealism 
of a misguided minority.

Keely, inasmuch as the vast majority of violent offenses are the result of 
recidivism, we could drastically reduce their incidence if we simply stopped 
these predators at the outset.  Your refusal to support such a compassionate 
approach will result in more and more blood on your hands.  And no amount of 
self-congratulatory posturing will wash it off.

Best,  -Tony
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "keely emerinemix" <kjajmix1 at msn.com>
To: <nickgier at adelphia.net>; <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 5:03 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Baptist Theologian Calls for Abolition of 
DeathPenalty


> 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 â?osloppyâ? 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
> moratoriumâ?"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.
>
> Tennesseeâ?Ts 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
> stateâ?Ts theory of the crime). In June 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court found
> that â?oviewing the record as a whole, no reasonable juror would have 
> lacked
> a reasonable doubt.�
>
> Then thereâ?Ts 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 Tennesseeâ?Ts 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 donâ?Tt 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 stateâ?"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 oneâ?Ts visceral support for the
> principle of life-for-life. Fine, for argumentâ?Ts sake, letâ?Ts 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 â?onot 
> 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 Testamentâ?Ts 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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