Evangelicals has excited anti-death penalty activists by abandoning its previous unequivocal support for capital punishment in favor of citing Evangelicals on both sides. A recent poll says 71% of white Evangelicals, who comprise the vast majority of NAE’s constituency, support capital punishment, the strongest margin in any major religious group.
“We affirm the conscientious commitment of both streams of Christian ethical thought,” the recent NAE resolution declared. NAE chief Leith Anderson reported the board’s vote, reputedly after 5 years of discussion within NAE, was unanimous. Although claiming NAE can now “present a cross-section of evangelical views,” clearly NAE’s drift and intent is towards critique of capital punishment. Anderson predicted: “When issues come up, we will speak up and say that there are inequities in terms of race and class and ZIP codes.”
(Read rest of article in The Stream.)
Comment by Kingdom Ambassador on November 6, 2015 at 10:30 am
Former “… Florida Attorney General Robert L. Shevin succinctly presented the case for capital punishment:
‘The human capacity for good and for compassion makes the death penalty tragic; the human capacity for evil and depraved behavior makes the death penalty necessary.’17
“The constitutional framers disagreed upon what comprised cruel and unusual punishment. Some of them believed capital punishment itself was cruel and unusual:
‘There were some significant voices at the time in favor of abolishing capital punishment. Some argued that the success of the new republic should depend upon the virtue of its citizens and not on their fear of a harsh penal code, which many saw as the hallmark of tyranny. Benjamin Rush, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, declared that “capital punishments are the natural offspring of monarchical governments.” Even a conservative like Alexander Hamilton believed that “the idea of cruelty inspires disgust,” and that the death penalty undermined republican values and behavior.’18
“The virtue of capital punishment was settled by Yahweh in His law long ago, but the debate over the death penalty rages on, thanks, in part, to the ambiguity of Amendment 8’s wording….”
For more, see online Chapter 17 “Amendment 8: Bail, Fines, and Cruel and Unusual Punishments” of “Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective” at http://www.bibleversusconstitution.org/BlvcOnline/biblelaw-constitutionalism-pt17.html.
Then find out how much you REALLY know about the Constitution as compared to the Bible. Take our 10-question Constitution Survey in the right-hand sidebar and receive a complimentary copy of a book that EXAMINES the Constitution by the Bible.
Comment by Gregory Alan of Johnson on November 6, 2015 at 8:46 pm
While I fully agree with the strict Biblical implementation of capital punishment, because of the commercial application under the Vatican/Illuminati Satanic cabal in the system of secular/civil governance, I cannot support the death penalty. When commerce incentives are removed, then maybe.
Comment by Bob on November 13, 2015 at 9:10 am
O but you should and will in certain situations… but I hear you… Point is the Corinthians in chapter 5 we’re told to do just that… get a lexicon if you need.