BoppWeBlog

I read this quote the other day by Hanan Ashrawi, a proponent of nonviolent resistance in Iraq. “Everyone knows what kind of war the United States can make. We long to see what kind of peace the United States can make”. To take this even further Rose Berger, an editor of Sojourners says based on the previous quote. “Everyone knows what kind of war Christians can make. We long to see what kind of peace Christians can make.”

These quotes really resonate with me. They convict me as a Christian, and as an American. It gets me thinking about the violent things Christians have participated in over the years. The crusades to even aligning with Nazism. Now these are extremes, and I don’t want to dwell on these sad historical events, because there have been countless great things accomplished in the name of Jesus as well. But it does seem like there are far too many Christians willing and almost eager to resort to war or violence. It should be just the opposite. Its seems to me that to be a ‘Christian’ by definition is to be an advocate of peace at whatever cost. Insted, it seems that it’s the so called liberals who are the peacemakers and those who represent Christ to many are remaining quiet, or even advocating military action.

In the words of Lee Greenwood “I’m proud to be an American”, which is why I want so badly to help our nation become even greater by demonstrating what it is capable of. Not in terms of military force, but through the power of peacemaking. To many people in the world the US represents Christianity, which is why as a Christian I feel so strongly that we do what we can to change the perception of our country.

In my previous post I touched on this. But I’d like to talk about it even further. I can’t say that this is an area in which I am very passionate. But it does seem pretty straightforward, and I’m very puzzled as to why it is even an issue here in the U.S. If you haven’t guessed already I’m against punishment.

There are actually very few countries that still allow this in the world today. So how is a country that claims to be on the cutting edge of technology and human rights still allowing this? Have we not evolved far enough to realize that killing doesn’t solve anything? Ninety seven percent of all executions in 2004 happened in four countries - Iran, China, Vietnam, and the U.S. The states that still allow this do not have less violent/death worthy crimes. In fact, in general they have more. Perhaps these states have always had a bigger problem with crime, thus ‘needing’ the death penalty. But it is unlikely. Consider, for example, the fact that crime dropped by 20% in Canada after it dropped the death penalty.

Another popular argument is the cost to the taxpayers. In actuality, it costs on average as much to execute someone as it does to hold them in prison for 40 years.

Human life is sacred. There is only so much ‘justice’ that can be done here on earth. Leave the rest to God.

Family and friends who hope to find closure in this final punishment for the ‘evildoer’ I would have to imagine only end up living much of their life dwelling and obsessing over vengeance.

And finally, most importantly, rather than deterring violence in our country and world, it mearly feeds the complicated social problem, worsening the climate of violence in the worl.