Breaking news today: President Biden will commute most but not all US federal death penalty cases.
My response below:
Every move away from the death penalty is a move in the right direction so we must celebrate Biden’s decision to commute 37 sentences today. But we still have work to do to abolish the death penalty once and for all.
37 is good but 40 is better. No one – not even Dylann Roof — is beyond redemption. Every time we execute a person we teach our kids the myth that violence can heal the wounds of violence.
The death penalty does not heal the wounds of violence, it just creates new wounds. We can honor the victims of violence without killing more people. It’s time to stop killing to try to show that killing is wrong.
Rather than asking “do they deserve to die” we should be asking “do we deserve to kill?” As Jesus said, “let the one who is without sin cast the first stone.”
Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.
-Shane Claiborne
