Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!dsinc!netnews.upenn.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: gross@dg-rtp.dg.com (Gene Gross) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Is There Biblical Justification For Capital Punishment? Message-ID: Date: 1 Mar 90 07:53:22 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Data General Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC Lines: 46 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article jrossi@jato.jpl.nasa.gov (Joe Rossi) writes: > >Were the gas chambers used by the nazi's to execute wrath on him who >practices evil? Do not concern yourself with how the vengeance of >the Lord is to be carried out, but rather remember that you will be >judged by the same measure that you judge. Could you, Patrick, pull >the switch on Robert Alton Harris as he pleaded, moaned, and begged >for mercy? > >If we cannot forgive a killer by sparing his life, how then is our >Heavenly Father to forgive us? If we cannot show mercy and compassion >to those who are the sickest, how can we expect God to show us who >are also sick, mercy and compassion? I urge you to reconsider. >WE CANNOT AFFORD TO SIT IN JUDGEMENT. Joe, question for you. Was it right and proper to execute the Nazis at the end of WWII? What about Eichmann (sp?)? Or what about the fellow they've just sentenced to death for crimes committed at Triblinka as Ivan the Terrible? The passage in Romans isn't an excuse for any government to abuse its citizens. And I think that some of my more fundamentalist friends could build a case capital punishment. Personally, I am not sure that I care to be the judge or jury, much less the executioner. I look at my own life and wonder at the great gift that has been given to me. As I've grown as a Christian, I have found a path that is not filled with the negatives. It is a path full of love and light that not only is for me, but also for anyone willing to reach out for it. I do not hold my position as above that of any of my brothers or sisters. I am only following the dictates and commands as I understand them. To do otherwise would be sin for me. I'm willing to show compassion and mercy to anyone and everyone. After all, it has been shown to me when I deserved it least of all. If God can do that for me, I can't see how I can do any less. I may not agree with my more fundamentalist brethren on the question of capital punishment, and some crimes that I read about or hear about on TV, cause me pause to consider my position, but the simple fact is that I cannot do otherwise than what I do. I must love even my enemies and those that despitefully use me. Peace and Blessings, Gene