Conviction is defined by defiance amid injustice. Of course, conviction is full of dangerous consequences. Indeed, it is the possession of such conviction that leads to spaces of great sacrifice. You don’t know where you might end up until you get there. Danger resides everywhere on these moral journeys. Not the danger that kills immediately…more so, the type of danger that will kill you slowly…one fraught choice at a time. If you feel like you’re dying…that’s what you signed... Read more
Religious Liberty for the Condemned: Kenny Smith and Us To the disappointment of many of his disciples, Jesus was not a conquering king. Indeed, his ministry was never about forcing people to believe anything at all. The ministry of Jesus was always about invitation rather than subjugation. Repeatedly, people even walked away from Jesus and decided to no longer believe. Followers of Jesus were there because they wanted to be. Such is the essence of faith…choice. Faith without choice... Read more
Parable of the Weeds on Death Row: Jeff Hood & Bart Johnson The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, Death Row Spiritual Advisor Bart Johnson, Prisoner on Alabama’s Death Row Matthew 13:24-30 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore... Read more
Nitrogen. I keep hearing the word repeatedly. In fact, the word presently consumes a good part of my life. Will it happen? Will it kill me? What are the dangers? Is it all hyperbole? I don’t know. I just know that I’ve been asked by Kenny Smith in Alabama to accompany him to the first execution by nitrogen hypoxia…his execution. If that wasn’t enough, Smith was the victim of a botched execution just over a year ago. So, this... Read more
On November 17, 2022, Kenneth Smith survived a botched lethal injection execution. Presently, Smith is scheduled to be executed by the unprecedented method of nitrogen hypoxia on January 25, 2024. The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood serves as Smith’s spiritual advisor and filed this suit to seek to protect Smith’s religious liberty. IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA Jeff Hood, § § Plaintiff, § Civil Case No. § vs. § CONNECTED TO A... Read more
Jeremiah Reeves, Martin Luther King, Jr. & Kenneth Smith: On Alabama’s Death Penalty Death is different. I’ve heard various manifestations of the phrasing…but the message remains the same…when talking about a life one should always exercise extreme caution. The State of Alabama has a long history of doing the opposite. It’s almost as if the motto of Alabama is kill first and ask questions…if at all…later. From the tyranny of lynching (at least 300 from 1877 to 1943)... Read more
On November 17, 2022, Kenneth Smith survived a botched lethal injection execution. I serve as Kenny’s spiritual advisor and seek to help guide him to a place of healing. Soul injuries occur when one engages evil so severely that it causes them to be detached from their very soul. For millennia, a variety of religious traditions have understood the trichotomy of body, consciousness and soul. The fundamental idea is that there is something that exists... Read more
The Near-Death Experience of a Death Row Inmate: Michael Bane All things considered…Tennessee’s Death Row is a relatively calm place. Well, it was until it wasn’t on September 5, 1994. After a congenial game of cards, a deranged and unstable prisoner by the name of Henry Hodges crept up beside and behind fellow prisoner Michael Bane and slit his throat. Immediately, Hodges howled in laughter, “I just killed you!” Bane fell to the floor. Other inmates cried... Read more
On the Resurrection of Casey McWhorter Our criminal justice system doesn’t exist for rehabilitation…it doesn’t even exist for punishment…it exists for one purpose…erasure. When someone goes to prison, the idea is for everyone on the outside to forget that they ever had any relationship at all with the condemned…that they ever even existed. For the most part, the system is very successful. Most people in Alabama couldn’t name anybody on death row. Much less, the next person... Read more
“End” : Systematic Theology from Death Row : (Casey McWhorter & Jeff Hood) Why do we allow our minds to stop? We too often assume that the end is the end. Many assume that death is the end because we dare not imagine any other way. We dare not because we think we are so much more enlightened than everyone else. Heaven and angels sound foolish amid the stark reality of a dead body. Maybe what we’re talking... Read more
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