"The View Beyond The Balcony" by Randy Weeks
Coming soon to a live streaming outlet available to you: the public execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan! Plus, waiting in the wings is the third and perhaps final attempt at executing Christina Pike, who survived two botched attempts at the hands of state-sanctioned executioners in Tennessee. Boy howdy! I just got a box of Orville Redenbacher’s microwave butter popcorn. I’ll pick up a six-pack of Corona Light and I’ll sit my skinny butt down on my couch and watch the show! Yee-haw!
Nidal Hasan was a U.S. Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people during a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009. Pike was convicted of the 1995 torture and murder of a 19-year-old classmate. There’s no doubt that both Hasan and Pike committed heinous acts of violence against others, so we should just kill ‘em both! Right?
State-sanctioned murder under the protection of the government keeps people in line and prevents more of such violence. Right? Wrong! Yes, the executed aren’t around to kill anymore, but decades of scientific research show that capital punishment is not a deterrent to murder. Plus, executions are much more costly than life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The thirst for vengeance, often thinly veiled as justice, is a natural human reaction. We want to get back at someone for hurting us. For those bent on vengeance, remember this: killing the killer does not bring back loved ones, nor does it fill the gaping hole in your heart.
Many Christians here in the Bible Belt use scripture to justify state-sanctioned murder. I’ve never known anyone, including myself, who hasn’t at times cherry-picked Bible verses to serve their own purposes. The same people who cite “an eye-for-an-eye” do not place the same weight on similar Levitical laws that we now see as outdated and irrelevant, like stoning a belligerent son to death. So pick the cherries you like and leave the rest to die on the tree. Hmmm.
Is redemption not a fundamental tenet in Christianity? Does a person on death row no longer have a chance to be redeemed? Are we better as a culture for killing a person who has killed? Is a life sentence without the possibility of parole not a death sentence in its own way?
I have never lost a loved one to murder. My mother, who was the epitome of kindness, did, though. Her father, my grandfather whom I never met, was beaten and thrown into a dry well where he died, all for a relatively small amount of money. Mama would never talk about it. I do know that at least one of the perpetrators was sent to Parchman, but I don’t really know what happened to the other two. Mama may have wanted revenge, but she never sought it because it was not consistent with her faith in Jesus’ teachings.
Pete Hegseth wants to turn an execution by firing squad into the center circle of a three-ring circus. Will there soon be a “Hunger Games”-like reality show that streams executions? Aren’t we better than that? Death of any kind is not entertainment. Even the hanging of the 10 Nazis convicted at Nuremberg of war crimes was carried out privately because it was considered inhumane to hold public executions.
I believe in redemptive justice—justice that offers the possibility for all of us, even for a person convicted of murder, to receive mercy and grace while behind bars. The one who has murdered may never be released from prison, but they may be able to contribute good things to the community in which they live and even to those of us who are outside the prison walls.
I know my words will not sit well with many people. The words of the Old Testament prophets did not sit well with governments during biblical times either. But we can choose to use the power of our words to seek redemption for the “unredeemable” rather than getting our rocks off on watching them get snuffed out. We could choose that. Will we?
I contend that it’s impossible to read the Sermon on the Mount and not come against capital punishment. (Tony Campolo, Christian sociologist and author.)
…and that’s the View from Beyond the Balcony.
Randy Weeks is a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Board Certified Telemental Health Provider, a Certified Shamanic Life Coach, an ordained minister, singer-songwriter, actor, and writer. He may be reached at randallsweeks@gmail.com.
About the Author
I applaud your courage for writing this article. Murderers do no t stop and think, “Well, darn. Maybe I shouldn’t kill this person because I might get the death penalty if I am caught.” This does not happen. The legal system is fallible. In the United States, over 200 death row inmates have been exonerated since 1973 due to wrongful convictions. Studies consistently show that capital punishment does not deter violent crime more effectively than long-term or life imprisonment. States and countries without the death penalty do not experience higher murder rates. The application of the death penalty is disproportionately influenced by race, socio-economic status, and the quality of legal representation. Impoverished defendants and people of color receive death sentences at significantly higher rates, particularly when the victim is white.
• High Financial Costs: Capital cases are vastly more expensive than life imprisonment due to complex pre-trial procedures, lengthy appeals, and specialized incarceration facilities. Taxpayer funds spent on these trials often strain public resources without a corresponding public safety