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54 Murder Demands...Capital Punishment!

Murder Demands the Divine

Justice of Capital Punishment!

While this article was written for a British audience,
it applies equally as well to the other nations of mod-
ern Israel

Michael A. Clark

T here is a large body of law-abiding Chris- this abdication of responsibility have pro-
tian-thinking people who have an ever duced a multitude of other problems.
growing concern at the horrific amount of
violence and bloodshed that is stalking our land The principle that the supreme pen-
-- and the failure of the ruling authority to im- alty should be paid for the ultimate crime is
plement true justice. The value of human life true justice and a highly civilized one, being
has been cheapened to the point where a person instituted by the Almighty. The Divine direc-
can be brutally murdered and the murderer walk tive is clear in this matter; the ruling author-
free within a few years, only to repeat the crime. ity should not seek to torture the mind of a
murderer by means of a cell-existence, re-
That the abolition of capital punishment ducing him or her to a vegetable. Nor should
has been the direct cause of the cheapening of it offer release to the murderer so that the
human life is not open to question. Whatever crime can be repeated. The death penalty is
prison term the murderer serves reflects the mandatory: the murderer has knowingly
value of the victim’s life. If, however, the mur- brought it upon him or herself.
derer pays for the crime with his or her own life,
the State exacts the maximum penalty and In the case of kidnaping of persons
places the highest value possible on the life of for ransom, the Law of the Lord requires that
the victim. The age of the victim, whether it is a this unspeakable crime shall also be punish-
child or elderly adult, should have no bearing able by death. This applies whether the vic-
on the seriousness of the crime and the need to tim is found alive or dead (Exodus 21:16).
exact the maximum penalty. With this law in operation, those into whose
hands the criminal placed the victim of kid-
Since the abolition of capital punish- naping, while negotiating the ransom de-
ment in 1965, approaching 100 people have mand, would also be liable for the death
been murdered by previously convicted killers. penalty. This provision would ensure a re-
These are killers who subsequently have been straining effect on all those who might other-
released from prison. In effect, many innocent wise assist the kidnapper to terrorize the
people have been sentenced to death by the rul- community in committing the crime.
ing authority itself, because it has refused to
implement true justice. The consequences of

The Berean Voice March-April 2003