CRIMINAL JUSTICE SOCIAL STATMENTS - LUTHERAN

Capital Punishment

http://www.elca.org/socialstatements/deathpenalty/

God entrusts the state with power to take human life when failure to do so constitutes a clear danger to society. However, this does not mean that governments have an unlimited right to take life. Nor does it mean that governments must punish crime by death.

The human community is saddened by violence, and angered by the injustice involved. We want to hold accountable those who violate life, who violate society. Our sadness and anger, however, make us vulnerable to feelings of revenge. Our frustration with the complex problems contributing to violence may make us long for simple solutions.

As a church united in resistance to hate (Luke 6:27), we minister to an often vengeful society. As a Church united in joy over the good news of God's healing grace, we minister to a battered society. As a church heeding the call to do justice (Jer 22:3), we minister to a broken society. As a church united for mission, we organize for ministries of restoration.

Capital punishment focuses on retribution, sometimes reflecting a spirit of vengeance. Executions do not restore broken society and can actually work counter to restoration. Renewed by the Gospel, Christians, as salt of the earth (Mat 5:13) and light of the world (Mat 5:14), are called to respond to violent crime in the restorative way taught by Jesus (Mat 5:38-39) and shown by his actions (John 8:3-11).

Our challenge is to incapacitate offenders in a manner that limits violence, and holds open the possibility of conversion and restoration

Christians live in anticipation of the day when "justice roll[s] down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream" (Amos 5:24).

The practice of the death penalty undermines any possible moral message we might want to 'send.' It is not fair and fails to make society better or safer. The message conveyed by an execution, reflected in the attention it receives from the public, is one of brutality and violence.

• we direct state public policy offices and the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs to work against the death penalty and for alternative and appropriate punishment for capital crime, such as imprisonment for natural life;
• we ask congregations, synods, agencies, and institutions of this church to support the work of state advocacy offices and the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs in effecting the abolition of the death penalty;
  

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