If the wages of sin is death, then Manuel Vasquez deserves to die over and over. A member of the Texas Mexican Mafia, Vasquez strangled Juanita Ybarra to death with a telephone chord over illegal unpaid drug taxes. One prior conviction involved the beating of a man who died after his body was set on fire. During the sentencing phase of his trial, prosecutors provided evidence that Vasquez was involved in at least two other murders. To make it plain, Vasquez was a very violent man before he was sentenced to death and maybe still is. With this said, I don’t fault anyone for thinking that this man deserves to die.
Later this evening (3/11), the State of Texas will kill Vasquez. The media will acknowledge the many victims of his crimes and insinuate that his death is a direct result of his actions. After the deed is done, various pundits will talk about what a relief it is that Vasquez is dead. I can just hear them, “Now, he won’t be able to kill anyone else” or “The family of the victims can now move on.” The words of justification will be many.
The problem is that all the people talking will have just killed someone.
Manuel Vasquez deserves to die.
Who wants to become a killer?
You can’t stop the killing by killing…only love can do that.
Amen.
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