Killing time . . .

Capital punishment is the killing of a human being by the state. That is to say more accurately, by you and me.

In Alabama, our executions are usually done late at night, or early in the morning, down in south Alabama, far from population centers. The identity of those who administer the lethal drugs is a secret. But make no mistake, you may not know when the execution will take place, and you probably couldn't find the institution where they take place, but it is your will that directs the hands that inject deadly poison into one of God's children.

Jesus will not cut any slack for rendering the wrong things to Caesar.

So this is personal. We cannot wash our hands of this. What would be sufficient reason for you to strap a stranger down, push needles into him him or her, and flip the switch that begins the chemical flow that first paralyzes the body, then collapses the internal organs?

That person strapped down is no threat to anyone anymore, hasn't been for years, living his life in a 8 x 8 cell, except for an hour or so each day to go out into the area just outside the cell for a little exercise. He or she probably did the horrible, horrible thing they were convicted of. Maybe not. But probably. How certain do you want to be before you kill him? Because as long as it is done, it is you and me that is doing the killing.

But Bob, you may be saying, he did such horrible things. He deserves to die.

But if we do this, we are killing too. Not to defend anyone. So why do we kill? We don't make that call. There are laws, right? Only the ones we have allowed Caesar to make. It is our decision. When is it okay for you and me to kill a child of God?

But Bob, surely the victims and their families deserve justice. He deserves to die.

A life for a life is revenge. Is revenge the peace we offer the broken hearts of a victim's family? Once it is done, it cannot be changed. But that is ultimately why we kill. We want to kill. We want revenge. And we can let the folks at the prison do it. It's their job.

But it's our will. We are the killers.

I don't know when it is right for you and me to kill intentionally with pre-meditation.

But how can it be wrong not to kill?

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