today we viewed an art exhibit centering on capital punishment and the death penalty in america. it showcased some art by a latino painter who also uses various mediums to express himself as well as a collection of various posters expressing various takes on the death penalty.

it was very interesting to learn the stories behind some of the more prominent cases that makes us think about people who live on death row every day...some rightly and some wrongly accused. a lot of these stories are never heard. for instance...all my years growing up i never really new anything about julius and ethel rosenberg except their names. i had no idea what they had supposedly done, the controversy surrounding the case, or that they were electrocuted at sing sing based soley on the outcome of a civil trial. things like the rosenberg executions, the case surrounding a black journalist and black panther member who is apparently wrongly accused and down to his last appeal in philadelphia...convicted of a crime that he didn't do during the height of philadelphia police brutality against blacks, the poor, and women of the area, and various other instances like the iranian student organization exocutions were truly fascinating. it made me really stop and evaluate my position, and what i believe Jesus would think about such a position.

is an eye for an eye really valid position in a lifestyle/religion that promotes mercy and compassion and forgiveness? if vengence really is the Lord's to dole out, why do we feel we have the right to take life in retribution? we are to turn the other cheek...give a person our shirt too if they take our coats. i don't think punishing lawbreakers is wrong. we have to have boundaries to keep everyone safe. but is legalized killing of criminals different that murdering someone on the street? sure they broke the law, but is it morally right? our justice system is so very flawed...with corruption at every turn. people get lazy and pin things on the easiest target. there is still so much racial injustice in the world that many times, unfortunately, it is a racially drawn conclusion. i can understand why the african american community is so angry about the injustice they are shown even now and understand better how we as a society perpetuate this stigma. this is not just a political and moral issue...i believe it to be a social issue, and one that like other social issues in america is flawed. food for thought if nothing else.

but through all of this, i have come to some sort of philosophy of why we don't really try to reform our prison/justice system. the united states has roughly 8% of the world's population and we use roughly 80% of the drugs produced world wide. that in and of itself is a huge issue. roughly 90% of the prison population has or has had a substance abuse and/or dependence issue at some point in their lives. then the issue is suddenly not a matter of a law or two broken...it's a social issue that requires addressing problems in many different areas. it becomes about changing all of the systems that feed into the crime committed. not to say that you won't just get a bad apple every now and again. if men are inherently evil and prone to do evil naturally, there will just be people who have no respect for the law and the rights of others. however, there are people who commit crimes and can be rehabilitated. we can interrupt the cycle when they are children and adolescents. reforming the juvenile justice system to treat them as children...like they are...instead of miniature adults could make a world of difference for the majority of kids who are simply in need. we can meet those needs if we'd stop being so lazy and go the extra mile for the marginalized of our society. eliminate poverty and you remove a huge stumbling block. i know this is all easier said than done, but it is about time something changed. maybe we don't need state sanctioned murder to teach people lessons. it obviously doesn't deter people from killing other people. i think we need to re-evaulate ourselves.

there was one poster in particular that really got my attention. it had to do with a case in florida in which a prominent civil rights activist had been murdered. the man responisble was charged and sentenced to death. at a clemency hearing for this man, the victim's son spoke to the judge. what he said was in effect this. the God he learned to believe in from his father (the victim) was a God of compassion and mercy and forgiveness. he said that the family did not want this man killed for what he had done. they couldn't not justify that as being right and in accordance with the teaching they believed. i thought it was particularly poignant. they didn't want him freed. they just wanted him to live for the rest of his life with what he had done...knowing all the while that this man's family showed him compassion...and in effect heaping hot coals of kindness on his head. wow. i can't imagine how hard it must of been for them to come to terms with a human tendancy for justice and the christian teachings they stood for in the end.

i think it is time that we as christians stand up on sound doctrine for what is right and what embodies the teachings of christ we claim to adhere to. it's time to put into action what Jesus lived. as micah 6:8 says...we should live justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.