Why I take the death penalty personally

With both houses of the Illinois General Assembly having passed SB3539, the bill to repeal the death penalty now sits on the desk of Governor Pat Quinn.

It’s an issue Illinois has wrestled with for years, and one that is personal for me. In 1997 my brother, Bruce VanderJagt, a Denver policeman, was murdered during a botched burglary. The killer escaped a certain death sentence by committing suicide with Bruce’s service revolver. Therefore, I escaped the nightmare most murder victims’ family members go through in death penalty cases — often decades of agony and putting their lives on hold, reliving the murder with every appeal and court decision, slowly waiting for an execution that may not come.

The 18 years I spent working in literacy and Christian ministry in jails and prisons prior to Bruce’s death showed me a different standard of justice for the rich and the poor. Believing the death penalty could never be carried out fairly, I opposed it. Later I became involved with Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation and Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights, abolitionist support groups for family members of murder victims and those who are on death row or had been executed. Gradually my opposition to the death penalty deepened far beyond my concerns over the fairness of the system.

Many Christians disagree about the death penalty. Why have I become so opposed to it? Lobbying alongside Randy Steidl (seen in the above picture with me), Illinois’ 18th innocent exoneree, gave me a glimpse of the hell blameless men suffer for decades on death row. It made me realize that most exonerees are cleared in spite of rather than because of our criminal justice system. There is no evidence to show that the death penalty is a deterrent and lots of evidence to show it is capriciously applied. It violates my Christian faith because it is a violent act of retribution and vengeance, an act that encourages the state to do what I have so abhorred in the murderer.

Because the death penalty is carried out primarily against the poorest and most powerless, it makes a mockery of God’s preferential caring for the poor. The death penalty asserts that not all people are made in the image of God, and it cuts off the possibility of forgiveness, redemption and reconciliation that Christ wants me to work toward. And in the end, it creates a whole new circle of victims — the family of the executed — who will suffer as I have suffered. I encourage Bible-believing Christians to read “Capital Punishment and the Bible” by Gardner C. Hanks for a comprehensive Biblical view of capital punishment.

Gov. Quinn has said that he plans to study the bill before deciding to sign or veto it, and that he wants to hear from his constituents. Call him at 312-814-2121 or 217-782-0244 or fax him at 312-814-5512 or 217-524-4049. May this action of the General Assembly cause us to seriously question the death penalty, which I see as the antithesis of restorative justice in this world.

Gail Rice is an author, consultant and adult literacy specialist who has been involved in jail and prison literacy work and ministry for over 30 years. She wrote again about capital punishment for TC after the death penalty was repealed in Illinois in March of 2011.

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Comments (19)

The author readily admits that she takes this issue "personally" and, therefore, her opinion should be taken with a grain of salt. This issue, while emotional (as is abortion), should be viewed through the lens of the Bible. We should not allow our personal emotions or experiences dictate what the Bible clearly makes known.

How should a Christian view the death penalty? First, we must remember that God has instituted capital punishment in His Word; therefore, it would be presumptuous of us to think that we could institute a higher standard. God has the highest standard of any being; He is perfect. This standard applies not only to us but to Himself. Therefore, He loves to an infinite degree, and He has mercy to an infinite degree. We also see that He has wrath to an infinite degree, and it is all maintained in a perfect balance.
What a beautifully written and compelling piece. I, too, am Christian, and because of that have always opposed the death penalty. I don't want the state to kill in my name. Killing someone to teach that killing is wrong, makes no sense. Thank you, Gail.
"It violates my Christian faith because it is a violent act of retribution and vengeance, an act that encourages the state to do what I have so abhorred in the murderer."

So why then, did God condone the killing of those who did align themselves with His will?
I agree with Gail's stance. Thank you Gail.

This also reminds me of the parable where Jesus saves the adulteress from stoning by saying, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."
And hers was a capital offense under Mosaic law. Jesus did not proclaim her innocent, but instead spread the guilt to the crowd; he said to her "go and sin no more." Perhaps the redemptive acts of Jesus instituted that higher standard---
The problem I have with Christians (and states) who so readily sign off on execution as the proper means of punishment, God-ordained, is that it is so often shown to be mis-applied. How many exonerees have been proven innocent, often through the work of journalists or law students, not the legal system, how many prosecutors have been shown over-zealous to get a conviction that they are blind to lack of evidence or mis-handled evidence---and innocent people are convicted, to spend years, decades on death row, and even executed?
They shouldn't be just brushed off as "collateral damage" either. Does the state then get a pass for wrongful execution? Where's the justice then for those murdered under that system?
I struggle with how any who follow Christ can support a death penalty. His teachings and His example are of mercy and compassion, not retribution. And even the most superficial study of the death penalty shows how unevenly it is applied, how many innocent people are sent to death row, and that it is not a deterrent.
I don't understand how someone who believes in the bible can distance themselves so far from the death penalty. God instituted the death penalty... period. To say that it is hateful or wrong is to accuse God of doing something wrong.
This concept of God "instituting" capital punishment has come a few times already. What does that phrase even mean? And is there not a difference between the Old Covenant (in which Israel's code of law actually had the means of executions) and the New Covenant (in which sinners are forgiven).

Also, keep in mind that the early Christians did not carry out executions... in fact, they couldn't, as they held no political power until Armenia and later Rome legalized Christian worship.
To say that God approves of capital punishment because it was carried out in the Bible is a bit like saying that since God didn’t oppose slavery in the Bible, He approves of it today. As Hanks points out in the book I mentioned, capital punishment was a lesser evil to stop unending vengeful blood feuds that would have occurred otherwise. Moreover, there were many strict conditions about how and when capital punishment could be carried out, and Hanks explains how all of these conditions are violated in the way capital punishment is carried out today.
I find it interesting that those who would claim that capital punishment is God-ordained because it is found in scripture, would not include all the capital offenses also found in scripture, for example, being a rebellious child . . .
Nobody is “claiming” God ordained capital punishment. It is simply a fact. Is there any dispute that Moses recieved from God (in God’s own voice) the remedy of capitol punishement? He also outlined standards of proof. That much should not be in dispute. Yes, God’s list of capital offenses was longer than ours. But that does not negate the fact that capital punishment was a consequence that God proposed.

Jimmie Roan is only seeing the red letters that he wants to believe in. Mercy and compassion were tempered with teaching about hell and judgment. The sermon on the mount which included “Blessed are the peacemakers” also included “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.” Jesus is the judge at the last judgment and some will experience capital punishment by His decree.

Paul reinforces the notion that capital punishment is actually doing God’s work “For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.” I am sure Rome’s standards of proof were not as extensive as ours. All that being said, I share a lot of concerns that Gail Rice has. My feeling is that we are responsible to the best standard of proof available at the time. As technology improves we have a moral responsibility to employ the best technology and legal defense available. Anything less than that should cause us to question the remedy of capital punishment. Also, any society that instituitionalizes race-based poverty is shameful. Federal hand-outs and patronizing, demeaning charity only enable family dysfunction which fills jail cells. Jobs, education, a healthy economy and moral reform are the real answers to intractable race based poverty.

The other thing I would say is that if this life were all that was, capital punishment would be a double tragedy and an unimaginable remedy. But as David says, this life is a shadow, we have eternity ahead of us and a just God who will set all things right. JCarpenter, you ask, "where's the justice for those executed (you use the term murder) under that system?" God is just and will make all things right.
God bless you, Gail. And God help us to see life anew through the eyes of Jesus, "friend of publicans and sinners."

A Christian worldview incorporates as a general principle the sanctity of life. All human life possesses dignity and inestimable worth - the life of the sinner as well as the saint, the condemned as well as the fully exonerated. Christians are to follow in the steps of the master who "gave his life as a ransom for many." Instead of taking life to satiate a primitive desire of blood-lust and revenge, we are to expend our lives in the cause of justice and human freedom. We are to be about the Kingdom task of saving lives (and human souls) in the name of Jesus.

Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" (Luke 6:9)

But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Matt. 9:13)
Rick, the OT also established the law of levirate marriage (marriage of a brother's widow) and "sanctuary towns" for persons accused of manslaughter), not to mention sexual slavery. It is unhelpful and ill-advised to appeal to OT social norms when addressing 21st-century problems, especially when we are unwilling to apply OT norms according to the standards indicated in the relevant texts. Shall we take up stoning of religious blasphemers, adulterers, and rebellious children? No, we appeal to the Bible for general principles in the light of the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, a shrill appeal to OT norms ignores the weight of evidence showing the administration of capital punishment in the U.S. continues to be fraught with irregularities and abuses. Justice demands the equal protection and application of the law for all citizens. Mercy asks us to withhold condemnation and consider the redemptive possibilities of grace.

Do we identify with "agents of wrath bringing punishment" (Rom. 13:4), according to prevailing human standards of justice, or do we identify with Christ, who is said to have uttered these words as he hung from the cross a condemned man: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:24) It is a choice we have to make every day---to live in gratitude for the undeserved kindness and mercy we have received from God or to punish others for failing to meet our standards of right conduct and fair dealing.

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