Stay of Execution Denied
Efforts to stay the execution of death row inmate Troy Anthony Davis continue today, including a last-minute offer by Davis to take a polygraph test to prove that he is innocent of the 1989 murder of off-duty Savannah, Georgia, police officer Mark MacPhail. MacPhail was killed while attempting to aide a homeless man who was under assault.
Seven of the nine witnesses against Davis have recanted or changed their testimony, but the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles denied Davis clemency Tuesday. The polygraph request was also denied, according to MSNBC. Davis is set to die by lethal injection tonight at 7 p.m. EST.
Christian Coalition Supports It
Jerry Luquire, President of The Georgia Christian Coalition, affirmed Davis’ scheduled execution in a statement to CBS affiliate WRBL3. Luqire said the parole board made “the only decision it could render if we are going to be governed by the rule of law” and “refused to substitute the emotions of those who disagree with the verdict with more than 20 years of legal decisions” upholding Davis’ guilt.
The Party of Death?
Perhaps it’s no surprise then that a headline at Addiction Info read: “The ‘Christian’ Republican Party of Death Kills Another.”
There the self-identified non-Christian, non-Republican Wendy Gittleson wrote, “More than 2/3 of Republicans identify as Protestant. Nearly a quarter identify Catholic, which means that less than 10% of Republicans don’t identify as Christian. You would think that people who call Jesus their savior would live up to the pro-life name they have given themselves.”
Pontius Pilot Redux
In a Jack & Jill Politics post that opened with the full text of John 8:1-7, Deborah Small said that although neither she nor any other member of the public knows the identities of the members of the parole board that refused Davis clemency, she assumes they consider themselves “good, upright Christians doing the Lord’s work.”
“I wonder if they ever consider what Jesus would think and do in their position? More importantly, what if they were making the same mistake Pontius Pilate made when he sentenced Jesus to death? History has not looked kindly on Pilate’s willingness to accept the unsupported claims of Jesus’ detractors that he committed capital crimes against Rome. History will not look kindly on the decision of this Board to execute a man who may in fact be innocent. He is certainly not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” Small wrote.
Barbarism on Display
In a letter to the editor of Cascade Patch, Rev. Robert Wright, rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta, wrote: “Capital Punishment is state sanctioned lynching. Capital punishment is the exact opposite of civilization. Capital Punishment is the admission of our immature and barbarous tendencies as a society. While Capital Punishment may be the law in Georgia, it is not justice in Jesus’ eyes. … With the murder of Troy Davis, Georgia has admitted that Jesus’ will and ways are of secondary concern. Shame on Georgia.”
Davis at Peace
Meanwhile, Davis is at peace, Trymaine Lee reported at The Huffington Post.
“We circled around him and we prayed,” Edward DuBose, president of the Georgia State Conference of the N.A.A.C.P told Lee. “I looked in his eyes and I saw peace, I saw a man of faith.”
What do you think?
Are you praying for a last minute reprieve for Davis or are you at peace with a just process?
The part of me that is born and bread in conservatism leads me to often distrust the government. . . . when it comes to execution. . . it’s an outrageous risk to put in the hands of an imperfect government. This particular story just elevates the concern astronomically. . . but why some Christians and some conservatives trust the government to put people to death is beyond me.
Too many questions. I agree with Joel. A real pro-life Christian would commute the sentence to life.
If the death penalty is anathema to Christians, it should especially be so when such injustice is meted out to certain groups of people at a greater frequency than others. The Bible says a lot about showing partiality in dispensing justice. In most of the discussions that I have seen on the mainstream media yesterday concerning the execution of Troy Davis, this seemed to be overlooked. It was mentioned in passing on CNN by a former Federal prosecutor who was “amazed that race was not at all part of the days’ discussion.” The data is clear, blacks who commit violent crimes against whites receive harsher penalties, including death, than when whites commit the same crimes against blacks. What this tells us is, not only is there an “Injustice System In America” (which is a must see documentary) but that some human life is of greater value than others. I mean really, if Casey Anthony had been Black or Latina, would that story suck up as much oxygen in the media last summer as it did? No. Moreover, as irony would have it, Troy Davis was not the only person put to death yesterday. Lawrence Brewer, of Jasper, Tx dragged James Byrd Jr. behind his pick up truck until he was decapitated and then, with two other white assailants, dumped his headless body in front of a local black church and cemetery before heading off to a BBQ in the summer of 1998. He was executed as well, but there was little to no coverage. This should not be a surprise in light of the fact that the more recent racially motivated murder of James Craig Anderson (caught on surveillance cameras) went by with but a mere mention from the mainstream press as well. I find this silence quite odd, and I’m sure had there not been strong celebrity support for Mr. Davis, in the weeks prior to yesterdays execution, this most likely would have gone under the radar as well. Davis’ last words were, “may God have mercy on your souls, and may God bless your souls.” It was said that Brewer was not only silent, but never gave an apology, nor ever showed any remorse for what he had done before he was executed. There’s a lot that could be said about that, but you can’t comment on what wasn’t covered. Christians need to question, not only the “justness” of a law, but to whom and how it is meted out as well. If we are to be Christians in the US we must seek “justice for all,” not ignore the data that screams “justice for y’all,”