Christmas, Scott Eizember, Christian Nationalism and False Promises of Peace Just a few short weeks ago, I participated in the clemency hearing of Scott Eizember. Seated at the front of the room, I declared that it is always going to be evil to kill a child of God. Without hesitation, I declared, “Where is God at in a process such as this?” Seeing that Scott’s lawyers and I went first, my remarks served to change some of... Read more
Forgiveness: Thoughts on Leesa Gray, Thomas Loden, Jr., Wanda Ferris and the Perpetuation of Evil I remember my exact thought when I heard about the murder of 16-year-old Leesa Gray: “This is the stuff that nightmares are made of.” On June 22, 2000, Gray was driving down a rural Mississippi road when her tire went flat. Pulling off to the shoulder and turning on her flashers, the young woman prayed that someone would stop and help her.... Read more
Scott Eizember – Wednesday, December 7, 2022 at 9:00 AM Meeting Place: Zoom Webinar Web Address: https://oklahomadoc.zoom.us/j/1605256917 Webinar ID: 160 525 6917 *This letter was included in the official packet for Scott Eizember’s Clemency Hearing. November 14, 2022 To: The Pardon and Parole Board of the State of Oklahoma Mrs. Cathy Stocker Dr. Edward Konieczny Mr. Larry Morris Mr. Scott Williams Mr. Richard Smothermon You ever willed yourself to... Read more
We’re losing consciousness. We don’t seem to notice. We just keep going faster. Will we destroy ourselves? Nobody seems to care. We are just interested in going further than those who came before us as quickly as possible. We call it progress. We are sorely mistaken. In such a world, it seems ludicrous to ask people to slow down. Yet, slowing down is the only way to know where we are. So, I ask you to slow down.... Read more
“Forgive them for they know not what they do.” No matter your religious preference, the words of Jesus Christ echo down through the centuries. Perhaps more than any other words ever uttered, they have come to be recognized as the very constitution of grace. Daily, I wonder what the application of such words would look like in our age. What does it mean to offer grace beyond that which is warranted or deserved? Our laws can only go so far... Read more
November 27, 2022 Dear Colleague. My name is Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood and I serve as the spiritual advisor to Scott Eizember, who has been condemned to be executed by the State of Oklahoma on January 12. In the coming weeks, I will be participating in a clemency process for Scott that will culminate in a public hearing on December 7. Scott was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2003 murders of an elderly couple in Depew, A.J. and... Read more
The rapidity with which these executions are taking place is stunning. In fact, these executions are becoming so routine that it’s easy for people to forget that actual humans are being executed. Such dehumanization has a variety of consequences…not the least of which is that we become comfortable killers. You see it takes a real human to kill and it takes a real human to be killed. The two are intrinsically connected. Thus, our dehumanization further has the consequences... Read more
Transcript of a sermon delivered on November 20, 2022. Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxZZVXITvzI Greetings. My name is Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood. I am coming to you today from a society that is in deep moral confusion. You see, every single day I wake up to stories of murder, to stories of killing, to stories of war, to stories of rumors of war. You see, we are a society that is experiencing a pandemic of violence, an epidemic of violence, and... Read more
“The Demonic Mailers”: The Weight of Benjamin Cole’s Stuff: Part 2 of 4 Truth be told, I didn’t know Benjamin Cole all that well. I’m not sure that anybody did. Most of the time, he wasn’t really there. Cole lived in a world of his own delusions. Of course, in such a world he was an oracle. If you wanted to have any interaction with Cole, you had no choice but to enter where he lived. I did. ... Read more
“The Actual Weight”: The Weight of Benjamin Cole’s Stuff (Part 1 of 4) Eyes ahead. Focus. Eyes ahead. Focus. Eyes ahead. Focus. I don’t know where it all ends. I just know that it ain’t stopped. I must keep going. When I got the first call, I didn’t know what to do. It’s Benjamin not Ben. Benjamin Cole was so very fragile. The Messianic delusions. The Bible verses. The shouts of God. They were incoherent…but…they were... Read more
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