Video
Twitter
RSS
The Post Most: NationMost-viewed stories, videos and galleries int he past two hours
There are no discussions scheduled today.
Chatological Humor
Live Q&A, Tuesday Noon ET
Gene Weingarten takes polls and chats about his recent columns.
Featured Reads
Pro-life; Pro-death penalty?
During a GOP debate last week, Texas Governor Rick Perry was asked about his support of the death penalty. (Texas has the highest rate of execution in the country.) Rick Perry was steadfast, saying, to cheers of support from the audience, that he had “never struggled” with the potential that Texas could have execution of an innocent person. At a June 2011 anti-abortion event, Perry told supporters that he believes “human life [is] a sacred gift from God.” Can you be pro-life and pro-death penalty? How does one reconcile these positions?
Caring ‘for the least of these’
How it is possible that these people, who claim to be “pro-life” and stand for “family values,” could have such disregard for human lives? After all, Gov. Perry affirmed that he values human life as a “sacred gift from God” just a few months earlier. Surely as people of faith, the Tea Party audience shares my understanding of the religious commitment to the most marginalized, the most vulnerable, and those most likely to be excluded.
Innocence and the end of capital punishment
While I am critical of the authorities in the Catholic Church for many of their positions, I do recognize and applaud their consistency on the issue of life.
Death by opinion poll
If we wish to follow the fifth commandment fully we need to commit to not taking the life of any person, either in war or in capital punishment. This doesn’t apply to fetuses because they are simply not persons.
Applauding for death
One can be pro-life and pro-death penalty with the same aplomb as one can host The Response, a mega-public prayer event, and stress a strict interpretation of a Bible that says to pray in private.
American Christians and the death penalty
Almost all the early Christian Fathers were opposed to the death penalty, even though it was of course standard practice across the ancient world.
The contradictions of religious people
I do not understand why people are surprised by contradictions in the lives and rhetoric of religious people.
When does a human stop being a human?
It’s my hope that we can find a common ground and at least agree that a human is always a human with the inherent beauty, worth and dignity God gives each of us.
For Perry, only some lives are precious
“Pro-life” supporters are not pro “life” in an inclusive, panoramic sense, but rather in a very narrow sense; they support unborn babies, but once those babies are born, if they belong to an “unacceptable” part of society, they are ignored and discriminated against.
The death penalty can be pro-life
People who are pro-life are horrified by a person taking upon themselves the prerogatives of God and want only and premeditatedly taking another person’s life.
Who would Jesus execute?
The GOP debate last week began to look like the ancient Roman arena, when execution was cheered, and even the spectacle of the death of someone who might be innocent was not a cause for “struggle.”
Death penalty as respect for life
Justice may only be meted out imperfectly. But it must be meted out.
Pro-choice and pro-life
I support a woman’s right to choose and I oppose capital punishment.
Death penalty an imperfect solution
There is an obvious moral distinction between the taking of the life of a criminal and killing the innocent.
Life and death: a test
If you think capital punishment is harsh, wait till you see what God’s gonna do to them!
Loading...
Comments