To Alabama Christians,
Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…the crucified one, the risen one, the merciful one who judges the living and the dead.
I write to you with both trembling and fire. I write as one who fears for your souls. I write because on October 23, the State of Alabama intends to kill a man named Anthony Boyd by suffocating him with nitrogen gas. You now know the date. You now know the name. Now, your response is up to you.
This is not simply about the state and its instruments of death. This is about you…Alabama Christians. Scripture is clear: “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God” (1 Peter 4:17). So, if Alabama kills Anthony Boyd, God will judge you for your complicity…for your silence…for your excuses…for your failure to stand with Christ in the condemned.
I plead with you as one who like you believes in the Gospel of Jesus Christ…you cannot allow this killing to happen without recognizing what it means for your faith…your witness…your salvation.
Anthony Boyd: A Man, Not a Symbol
Anthony Boyd is not just another name on a legal docket. He is not a number in the statistics of capital punishment. He is not an abstraction for debate. He is a man. He is a human being. He is a brother…created in the image of God.
From the dust of the earth, God formed him. From the breath of God, he drew his first breath. His life…like every life…is a miracle. Even now, as the state prepares to choke him with gas, that same divine breath sustains him.
Though there are deep questions that remain about the fairness of the trial…Boyd was convicted of a terrible crime…a brutal murder in 1993. But guilt does not erase the image of God. Sin does not erase God’s claim. Even Cain…the first murderer…bore a mark of protection from God so that no one would take his life. If God refused to let Cain be executed, who are we to say that Anthony Boyd deserves death?
When you look at Boyd, you are looking at someone for whom Christ died. Jesus took his sins…as he took yours…to the cross. Jesus shed his blood for him…just as he shed it for you. If you believe that salvation is for sinners, then you must believe that salvation is for Anthony Boyd.
To suffocate him with nitrogen is to desecrate the image of God. It is to spit on the cross. It is to declare that the blood of Jesus is not enough.
The Idol of the Death Penalty
Alabama Christians have long bowed before the idol of the death penalty. You defend it as though it were an article of faith. You quote Romans 13 as if it gives license for vengeance, forgetting that Paul himself was executed by the same empire he warned against. You treat the death chamber as though it were an extension of the church’s altar.
And now the idol has a new mask…nitrogen hypoxia. They will strap a mask on Boyd’s face, flood it with nitrogen and watch as his body starves for oxygen. They call it “humane.” They call it “painless.” They call it “progress.”
But listen…death by suffocation is not mercy. It is ritual. It is sacrifice. It is worship of the false god of retribution. It is Moloch, dressed up in medical clothes.
The prophet Isaiah warns: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness” (Isaiah 5:20). You are calling suffocation good. You are calling cruelty justice. You are calling execution holy. But it is blasphemy.
The Cross of Jesus Christ already settled the matter. His execution revealed the violence of empire as godless. His resurrection revealed the futility of death as final word. To execute Boyd is to say you have learned nothing from the Cross.
Anthony Boyd and the Cross
Let me be clear…when Anthony Boyd is executed…it will not be Boyd alone who dies. It will be Christ.
Do you not see the parallel? Jesus was condemned by the state…declared a danger to society…abandoned by the crowds, mocked, beaten and executed. His execution was legal. It was orderly. It was justified by the authorities of his time. And yet, it was the greatest sin in human history.
Every execution since Calvary is a repetition of that sin. Every execution cries out, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
The nitrogen mask that Alabama prepares for Boyd is a crown of thorns. The straps are nails. The suffocation is the cross. If you allow Boyd to be killed, you crucify Christ again.
The New Testament declares, “Once for all Christ died for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Once for all. No more killing is needed. To kill Boyd is to reject the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice.
Alabama Christians, Matthew 25 and the Judgment of the Nations
Hear the words of Jesus in Matthew 25,
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”
And how will the separation be made? Jesus tells us, “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to me.”
The righteous are confused, “Lord, when did we see you like this?” Jesus answers: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
And to the others…the goats…he says the opposite, “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”
Anthony Boyd is in prison. He is among the least of these. He is precisely the kind of person Jesus was talking about. To show mercy to Boyd is to show mercy to Jesus. To kill Boyd is to kill Jesus.
On the day of judgment…you will not be asked how many Bible verses you memorized…how many hymns you sang…how many sermons you listened to. You will be asked: What did you do to the least of these? And on October 23, that question will be…What did you do to Anthony Boyd?
If you execute him, Jesus will say, “As you did it to him, you did it to me. Depart from me.”
Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment
But there is hope. James 2:13 proclaims, “Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
If you show mercy to Boyd, God will show mercy to you. If you refuse to kill him, God will refuse to kill you. If you see Christ in Boyd, Christ will see himself in you.
But if you deny him mercy, you deny yourself mercy. If you choose execution, you choose judgment.
Mercy is not weakness. Mercy is the power of God. Mercy is the gospel. Mercy is what saves. If you want to be saved, show mercy. If you want to be forgiven, forgive. If you want to be spared, spare Anthony Boyd.
The Prophets Against Sacrifice: A Warning for Alabama Christians
God has always rejected human sacrifice. “I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6).
Israel once believed that killing would cleanse the land. They built altars, offered animals and were even willing to sacrifice their children. And the prophets rose to condemn them:
“Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please me” (Jeremiah 6:20).
“Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me… Your hands are full of blood!” (Isaiah 1:13, 15).
Alabama Christians, listen…your offerings are meaningless while you prepare to kill. Your hymns are detestable while your prisoners suffocate. Your hands are full of blood if you let Anthony Boyd die.
The execution chamber is not the temple of God. It is the altar of Moloch. And if you participate, you are not worshiping Jesus…you are worshiping death.
Alabama Christians Under Judgment
Do not think that God will overlook this. Alabama Churches that sanctify death are under judgment. Alabama Pastors who stay silent are under judgment. Alabama Christians who shrug their shoulders are under judgment.
Your prayers will rot. Your worship will stink. Your witness will crumble. You will become whitewashed tombs…beautiful on the outside, full of death inside.
You cannot serve both Christ and the death penalty. You cannot preach resurrection and practice execution. You cannot worship Jesus on Sunday and kill Anthony Boyd on Thursday.
The Call to Repentance and Action
I write this letter not to condemn you but to call you to repentance. God does not delight in the death of the wicked but in their turning and living (Ezekiel 18:23). There is still time to repent. There is still time to act.
Pray for Anthony Boyd. Protest this execution. Call your leaders. Preach against it from your pulpits. Stand outside the prison and cry out. Speak his name in your churches. Refuse to let this happen quietly.
If you cannot stop the state, you can still refuse to give it your consent. You can still stand on the side of life, on the side of mercy, on the side of Christ.
Alabama Christians: The Choice is Life or Death
Siblings, the choice is before you…life or death. Blessing or curse. Christ or Moloch. Sheep or goats.
On October 23, Alabama will choose whether to kill Anthony Boyd. But you…Alabama Christians…will choose whether to kill Christ.
If you kill him, judgment without mercy will be shown to you. If you show him mercy, mercy will triumph over judgment.
As the Scripture says: “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).
Choose life. Choose mercy. Choose Christ.
For…to those who show mercy, mercy will be shown.
The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood
Founder, Execution Intervention Project
Priest (Old Catholic Church)
*If you would like to support the Execution Intervention Project (the organization that financially supports Dr. Hood’s work), click here.
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