Two Saturdays in a row First Christian Church has been in the News-Press. This week the article was about our vote last Sunday to support a moratorium on executions in Missouri. (See my previous posts about the process leading up to this vote and more information about the moratorium.)My thanks go out to Erin Wisdom who wrote a good story about us and got the facts straight. I'm less grateful towards the editors who gave the article a misleading headline. According to the headline we voted to oppose the death penalty when in reality we voted to support a moratorium. As a congregation we are not in agreement over the morality of the death penalty. there is a large agreement, however, that the current system is not just--more poor and black defendants go to death row than the other way around--not to mention the many innocents who have been exonerated.
Personally, I remain opposed to the death penalty, because I worship Jesus Christ who was put to death even though he was innocent of any crime. My love for Jesus compells me to consider thae evils inherent in any system of execution by an imperfect government. Also, I believe it is entirely possible that life in prison is worse than death. Finally, I believe each human life is valuable, because each life is created by God--each life, both the victims and the perpetrators.
My prayer is that our vote as a church speaks out about an issue of injustice and plays a part in seeking a legal system that is fair for all involved.
Grace and Peace,
Chase
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