Dear Editor:
Imagine being given a choice on how you die, but the options are limited to electrocution, lethal injection or a firing squad.
This isn’t a dystopian nightmare — it’s the grim decision forced upon Death Row inmates in South Carolina today.
On March 7, Brad Sigmon was executed by firing squad, choosing this method over the electric chair and lethal injection. In his final words, delivered through his lawyers, he said: “I want my closing statement to be one of love and a calling to my fellow Christians to help us end the death penalty. An eye for an eye was used as justification to the jury for seeking the death penalty. At that time, I was too ignorant to know how wrong that was.”
As Christians, this should trouble us deeply, especially during the season of Lent. It is horrifying not only that the state forces inmates to choose the means of their own death but also that we continue to allow capital punishment at all.
The church should be united in its opposition to the death penalty, condemning it as both immoral and barbaric. Our faith centers on Jesus Christ, himself a victim of state-sanctioned execution. If we are serious about Christ’s stance of nonviolence, then we should urge Congress to take steps toward abolishing the death penalty.
Many religious organizations and denominational bodies have publicly opposed capital punishment. Now is the time to renew and amplify those calls for abolition. As Jesus taught in Matthew 5:38-39 — “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil.”
Abolishing the death penalty does not deny that humans commit grievous harm against one another. Rather, it affirms that in response to great violence, we do not worship a vengeful, retributive God but one of grace and redemption.
I invite you to act. Sign petitions calling for the abolition of the death penalty through organizations such as the ACLU, Amnesty International and Action Network. Urge the church to take a stronger stand and pressure national leaders to act. Change happens in collective action.
Until the church rises to this challenge, with every state-sanctioned execution, may Jesus pray for us all as he did from the cross: “God, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Aaron DY Everic, Richmond, Va.