{"id":93463,"date":"2015-08-03T00:13:01","date_gmt":"2015-08-03T07:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=93463"},"modified":"2015-07-21T13:24:40","modified_gmt":"2015-07-21T20:24:40","slug":"a-canadian-reader-puzzles-about-the-death-penalty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/08\/a-canadian-reader-puzzles-about-the-death-penalty.html","title":{"rendered":"A Canadian Reader Puzzles about the Death Penalty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

She writes:<\/p>\n

Good day to you and yours! I have been thinking about this topic for some time, and I thought to myself, \u2018why not ask the Great Dark Lord?\u2019 *kneels, grovels, licks boots*<\/p>\n

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, \u2018It should have never been removed,\u2019 to which the other replied along the lines of, \u2018Well, there are the strict Catholics\/Christians.\u2019 (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.)<\/p>\n

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\u2019t 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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s a great mystery to me that conservative Christians have such a deep love for the death penalty and cling to it with such fervor.\u00a0 The excuses for this love generally tend to run to \u201cIt\u2019s tradition!\u201d (despite the fact that the Magisterium\u2013the authentic conservator of the Tradition\u2013insists 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 \u201cWhen do we have<\/em> to kill?\u201d but rather, \u201cWhen do we get<\/em> to kill?\u201d and resents it when the Church puts a crimp on the thirst for blood.\u00a0 You\u2019d think that\u2013failing the moral insight that says \u201cSuppose your victim is innocent?\u201d or the realization that so many arguments for the death penalty are just amazing junk<\/a>\u2013an 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

She writes: Good day to you and yours! I have been thinking about this topic for some time, and I thought to myself, \u2018why not ask the Great Dark Lord?\u2019 *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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8],"class_list":["post-93463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-mailbag"],"yoast_head":"\nA Canadian Reader Puzzles about the Death Penalty<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"She writes: Good day to you and yours! 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