A Canadian Reader Puzzles about the Death Penalty

A Canadian Reader Puzzles about the Death Penalty August 3, 2015

She writes:

Good day to you and yours! I have been thinking about this topic for some time, and I thought to myself, ‘why not ask the Great Dark Lord?’ *kneels, grovels, licks boots*

Now, you may have addressed this already, and if you have, I do apologize for the ignorance (and hassle of a repeat question). But on my way to work the other day, the news/commentary radio program I overheard was discussing the death penalty, and the reasons why it should be reinstated in my country. One of the commentators said, ‘It should have never been removed,’ to which the other replied along the lines of, ‘Well, there are the strict Catholics/Christians.’ (In the on-and-off application of the death penalty in my country, the Church hierarchy has been viewed as one of, if not the most vocal opponent; even while, of course, some members have supported it at some point or another.)

Again, I probably have missed this, but I realized that I am not sure as to why in America, support for the death penalty has apparently become a non-negotiable among quite a number of self-identified religious conservatives. Am I understanding this correctly? Have I been misinformed by popular media? I won’t be surprised if so. I do know, however, that this is quite the can of worms, so I certainly recognize your prerogative to leave it unopened if you so choose. But if you should wish to answer, I would greatly appreciate your perspective on this.

It’s a great mystery to me that conservative Christians have such a deep love for the death penalty and cling to it with such fervor.  The excuses for this love generally tend to run to “It’s tradition!” (despite the fact that the Magisterium–the authentic conservator of the Tradition–insists that it is not essential to the Tradition) as well as various changes on what boils down to a simple love for bloody vengeance that tends to ask not “When do we have to kill?” but rather, “When do we get to kill?” and resents it when the Church puts a crimp on the thirst for blood.  You’d think that–failing the moral insight that says “Suppose your victim is innocent?” or the realization that so many arguments for the death penalty are just amazing junk–an instinct for self-preservation would prompt Christians to not urge the power to kill into the hands of a Caesar who is rapidly becoming hostile to the Church.

But cling to the death penalty many conservative Christians do, another example of the way in which so many in this subculture defy the teaching of the Church in order to pursue a perverse and wrong-headed agenda that is sheer folly.


Browse Our Archives