This is in answer to an e-mail my brother Lance sent me about the death penalty. This link will take you to the article he was referencing.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/07/090907fa_fact_grann?currentPage=all

Here is my response.

I think that the first exposure that I received to the argument that the Bible mandates the death penalty was when I went to Prairie and took my first tour through the Old Testament. Since then, my views have (I hate to say it) evolved. Although I would like to point out that the evolution of my thinking has absolutely nothing to do with random mutations.

This is what I think.

It is a horrible injustice to execute an innocent man, but it is probably equally horrible to condemn an innocent man to prison for life.

It is an imperfect world. Innocent people get convicted from time to time. Some of them have almost definitely been executed.

We can't eliminate the criminal justice system because it is imperfect. There are predators among us and they must be dealt with.

My reaction to the news that led Illinois Gov. George Ryan to commute those death sentences was not that the death penalty was wrong, but that the system probably needs some sort of a balancing mechanism. If that many people on death row have been set free, how many innocent people are rotting in prison while serving life sentences? I am just as concerned about them as I am about those facing the death penalty. After all, as Bill Clinton's brilliant Surgeon General once remarked, "I suppose we all got to die of something."

I think that we could probably set up a process whereby any sentence longer than 20 years could be re-investigated from the ground up by a state police unit that would be, in some way, the equivalent of an internal affairs department.

I think that prosecutorial misconduct is a very, very scary thing, and that it is probably more common than we are aware of.

I think we should be impeaching federal judges on a fairly regular basis. We are not stuck with these peopel for life, or at least we don't have to be.

I think that they really didn't have any option other than execution during Old Testament times. They simply didn't have, and couldn't afford a prison system like the one we have today. If you took something from someone, you didn't go to prison. You paid it back plus 20%. If you couldn't afford to pay it back, you were sold into slavery for a period of time necessary to repay the debt.

If you injured someone, an economic value was attached to the injury and you had to pay that person for their injury plus 20%. This is the famous "eye for and eye and tooth for a tooth" passage. The idea is that you don't fine someone as much for a knocked out tooth as you would for a gouged out eye.

You'll notice that there was no mention of prison in the previous two examples. As I said, the system didn't exist, nor could they have afforded to construct such a system.

I just had Christmas with my family, and I was thinking about depression days and pioneer days when kid might have received an orange for Christmas. Our standard of living is amazing and it makes many things possible now that were not possible then.

The only institution that could have served as an equivalent to prison was slavery, but the slave system was not like the one set up in the South and it wouldn't have worked for capital crimes. Let's say that I had the resources to pay someone's fine and accept that person as a indentured servant until their labor paid me back the cost of the fine plus a small profit. Assuming that I could come up with enough money to pay for a human life, there is no way I'm gong to let a murderer loose in my farm or in my shop. I wouldn't have a system in place that would enable me to do that safely.

In the light of all these facts, I don't think we would be dishonoring God if we were to do away with the death penalty or at least modify it in some way.

Last, but not least, I am more and more impressed with the reality that no one gets away with anything in the end, apart from the forgiveness of God through Christ. Even in that case, the crimes forgiven have been paid for by the sufferings of the Savior.

The deeds are being written down and the books are going to be opened. How much time will all this take and in what detail will our lives be reviewed? I am beginning to think that they will be reviewed in great detail. If I will not loose my reward for a cup of cold water given out of compassion, then it makes sense to me that my good deed, which seems like a very small thing to me, is actually a very big deal in the sight of God. I suspect that every random act of kindness will be reviewed in detail.

There will be no shortage of time. God could spend 25 or 30 years reviewing my life with me in great detail.

This same process will apply to sins not covered by the blood of Christ. We must believe this, preach it, and be a witness to it.

Our problem, I think, is that we don't remember very much very clearly. All of our past, good and bad, get's lost in the mist of our memories. But that thing you did ten years ago, whether good or bad, will be reviewed in detail. And if it was a bad thing, and you protest to God about it, He can reach inside of you and press a neuron that will cause you to instantly recall, in vivid detail, every aspect of the incident under discussion. In deep hypnosis it is possible for a person to remember their whole life in vivid detail, even including sounds and odors.

We are like foolish criminals who commit crimes in front of ATM's or in other places where security cameras record everything in vivid detail. In our case, the recording is not just in the mind of God, it's permanently recorded somewhere in the recesses of our own brains.

I used to love Paul Harvey's stupid criminal stories. The guy hands the teller a note saying, "I have a gun. Give me the money!" The teller turns the note over after the criminal flees. He wrote the note on the back of an envelope. On the other side the teller sees his name and address. This type of thing actually happens.

Imagine an even stupider criminal. He plans his crime in great detail. Then he writes a letter to a judge. "You need to be at such and such a place at such and such a time. Bring some cops and a jury. This is what I'm going to do. We can have the trial in five minutes after the crime. This will save time and money."

Every sin is just that stupid. You visited the no-tell motel with sweet Susie from the office and nobody saw you? You think you got away with it? In a worst case scenario, the biggest worry you have is that your wife will find out?

The entire crime was caught on film. The Judge was holding the camera. And you will be called into account.

So, Merry Christmas to one and all. Thank God for the gift of His Son which has resulted in a whole lot of video tape being erased. All praise and glory to the King of Heaven, who is perfect in love, in justice, and in power.