HeartBreakLog

California Executes Tookie Williams [FOXNews.com/AP]
When Williams was declared dead, supporters chanted, "The state of California just killed an innocent man". Surely this assertion must have seemed preposterous even to the various celebrities and diginitaries who protested his execution. Williams was the founder of one of the most notorious, murderous criminal organizations in recent U.S. history, and himself murdered four helpless people in cold blood and bragged about it. Despite Williams’ childrens’ books teaching against gangs and drugs, and Nobel Prize nominations, CA Governor A. Schwarzenegger denied last-moment appeals for clemency.
So, what about the death penalty? The death penalty is an entirely just and appropriate response to murder and other crimes against humanity, ordained by God:

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.

Jesus expanded the definition later---saying that holding someone in contempt is essentially the same crime against God and man as murder. Here’s where the trouble really starts:

Matthew 5
²¹"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' ²²But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.

The problem with the death penalty isn’t any inherent injustice, but its universal applicability:

Romans 3:
²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Romans 6
²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

By His Grace, God has provided not only clemency, but a full Pardon for all of us through Jesus Christ, if we will accept it. There is no indication in any of these news accounts that Tookie Williams ever did. There is still time for the rest of us.

Labels: Bible and Religious Commentary

// posted by JJR2 @4:34:00 PM; || Permalink for this post || to this post ||

James 1
⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

The news lately has been almost all bad, and it’s getting worse. There’s some new shock somewhere in the world almost every day. War, pandemic, corruption, vice, poor judgment by political, social, business, and religious leaders on every side plague the people of the world. In the U.S., in particular, recent crises and natural disasters have been severely aggravated by failures of personal judgment in our leaders. For that matter, when was the last time anyone in a modern position of leadership consistently demonstrated wisdom? Wisdom almost seems to be a disqualification for positions of responsible authority in our world. How do we correct this? Where did we collectively miss the exit on the expressway to world destruction?

Matthew 22
³⁷Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' ⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

What is God trying to tell us? Is everything He was trying to show us through 1500 years of the painful, often brutal history of Israel and the world really summed up by our relationships with Him and with each other?
Our misunderstanding of this summation is at the very root of the tragedy of human history, and evidently, of our future. God has been trying to explain this to us, but nobody listens. Wisdom isn’t an inherited trait, or a talent, or a gift, it’s a relationship .

Labels: Bible and Religious Commentary

// posted by JJR2 @11:59:00 AM; || Permalink for this post || to this post ||