A Land Full of Bloody Crimes

In a land full of bloody crimes like America has become there is a sharp divide on whether the death penalty is appropriate or humane. The way criminals are punished varies greatly across the country. The two percent of the population that are criminals hold the ninety-eight percent of innocent people hostage because of contradictory laws and good intentions. People that may mean well in our justice system have created a convoluted mess. The result is no justice and no peace.

The eighth amendment to the Constitution reads: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

This was added to the Constitution because of abuses the British had inflicted on American colonists. Our founding fathers wanted America to be different. The cruelty the old world had known would not stand here. It was, and is, a noble ideal.

As a Christian I have one issue with the admonition against the ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ clause. I think that standard should be determined by the act of the criminal perpetrator. If a murderer kills his victim by hitting them in the head with a pipe, for example, that’s how that murderer should die. This is a Biblical principle. Most people will recognize the scriptural phrase “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”. Most people, however, don’t understand that it is a law intended for a government NOT for individuals.

I have often heard people claim the Bible contradicts itself when the law, ‘an eye for an eye’, is compared to Christ’s admonition to turn the other cheek. They don’t understand what the Bible says or why. When Christ said to turn the other cheek He was speaking to individuals NOT to a government. There is no contradiction. There are two different directives intended for two different audiences.

Many modern Christians will claim the death penalty is not a Christian value. Only the Bible can dictate what is and is not a Christian value. The death penalty is a Biblical law. It is the only law contained in all five books of the law. That makes it a Christian value.

Mahatma Gandhi famously said: "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and the whole world would soon be blind and toothless." Gandhi didn’t understand the Bible either. I have no doubt Gandhi, and those who hold similar notions, mean well. They believe they are holding human life to a higher value. A proper understanding of the Bible will show that the death penalty, in fact, holds human life to the highest value.

Genesis 9:6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.”

This is the admonition in the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. It tells us that man is made in the image of the Living God. It is because man holds a special place that to kill a human being demands the highest penalty. Such is the value of human life.

Exodus. 21:24 “eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,”

Leviticus.24:17 “If anyone takes the life of a human being, he must be put to death.”

Leviticus. 24:20 “fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. As he has injured the other, so he is to be injured.”

Deuteronomy.19:21 “Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”

If someone takes your hand, they owe a hand in return. It isn’t vengeance for a government to exact such a penalty. It is true justice. It becomes vengeance when an individual takes the law into their own hands. Justice is the true road to peace. Vengeance is the road to destruction.

Numbers 35:30 “Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.”

Biblical law doesn’t arbitrarily demand a human life based on one persons word. That could lead to horrible abuses. Two witnesses were required to demand a life. In our world, with modern science, forensic evidence can easily serve as a witness capable of convicting a murderer.

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In the last few days a man in New York walked into an elevator wearing what appeared to be the clothing of an exterminator. He sprayed flammable liquid on a 73 year old woman then stepped out of the elevator and set the woman on fire, killing her. He did this in the view of a surveillance camera. He went on to turn himself in to the local police. The city and the nation were shocked.

It says something for a crime to shock the nation these days. We have become accustomed to horrible, bloody crimes against the innocent. Thirty years ago a bloody crime would make the front page of every newspaper in the country. These days it has to be something really unusual to do so.

Earlier this month in Canton, Georgia a seven-year old girl was raped, stabbed and beaten to death. The body of Jorelys Rivera was found December 5th in the afternoon in a trash bin. She had been thrown away like so much garbage. A 20-year-old apartment maintenance man is being held for the murder of this beautiful little child.

This story hardly made the news in most places in the country. It was reported between the weather and the latest football scores. Though it shocked the people in her community, the next day it was just a footnote to most of the nation. This kind of evil has become all-too-common.

The monsters that committed these horrible murders will, no doubt, go through a lengthy court process. They will most likely be found guilty. They may even be given the death penalty. If that happens they will go through years of appeals and may never actually see the death penalty. They will be housed and fed on taxpayer money for years to come. In a week or two their crimes will be forgotten for the next big stories in the news. The families of their victims will know no peace from our “justice” system.

If Biblical laws were enacted these monsters would die like the innocent people they murdered in a timely manner. Their deaths would be made public and you can be certain that it would send the message to other would-be rapists and murderers that to commit such crimes would see them die in a like manner. I guarantee that would deter most!

Oh, some of the more ‘humane’ among us would weep and moan for the terrible, and cruel way that these monsters were ended…but more families would sleep soundly knowing that justice prevails and their children were safe.

This world has gotten so off-track that it will take Christ returning to set it right. God’s system of justice is coming…little Jorelys Rivera will breath again. She, and all of humanity, will know true peace and justice one day.

Ezekiel 7:23 “Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.”