So it goes...
The state of Texas executes more people by itself than the entire rest of the United States. That's a pretty well known fact. Tonight, they're doing it again.
At 6 p.m. tonight, Frances Newton will be put to death by lethal injection, barring any successful efforts such as those cited in the Houston Chronicle. The death penalty is, of course, legal and supported by the state of Texas. To paraphrase Ben in a July 12 post, tonight my state commits murder.
Unfortunately, I don't have all the facts that Ben had for the Conklin case. I know nothing of Newton's background. All I have is my gut.
The crimes of which Newton is accused are horrible. She murdered her husband and two children, supposedly to collect insurance money. Now, to me this does not seem like the act of a rational individual. (Maybe she was suffering from postpartem depression, Tom Cruise.) But maybe it was, maybe she was just that greedy and malicious.
Either way, there is that part of me that desperately wants to see her hang for this. Hell, there's part of me that wants to throttle every murderer and rapist around the world. Maybe I'm wrong to resist those temptations. Maybe I'm wrong to oppose the death penalty, when I can see where those who support it are coming from.
But I do oppose it. Call me stubborn, but I made up my mind about the death penalty back when I was a Christian, and the wavering of my faith in many tenets of that religion hasn't dulled my continued belief in two fundamentals: the belief in the possibility of personal redemption, and the belief in the sanctity of life.
Apparently Frances Newton did not value the sanctity of life in 1987. But does this completely rule out her chance at redemption? Has the sanctity of her life been destroyed by her crimes? Are we still living by the Code of Hammurabi, eye-for-an-eye? Where does our culture of life fit into all of this?
The questions keep coming, but the answers remain out of reach, if visible at all. I guess no one ever said the world was easy. Busy, busy, busy...
Song lyric of the day:
"Guilty as charged
But dammit, it ain't right
There's someone else controlling me..."
- Metallica, Ride the Lightning
At 6 p.m. tonight, Frances Newton will be put to death by lethal injection, barring any successful efforts such as those cited in the Houston Chronicle. The death penalty is, of course, legal and supported by the state of Texas. To paraphrase Ben in a July 12 post, tonight my state commits murder.
Unfortunately, I don't have all the facts that Ben had for the Conklin case. I know nothing of Newton's background. All I have is my gut.
The crimes of which Newton is accused are horrible. She murdered her husband and two children, supposedly to collect insurance money. Now, to me this does not seem like the act of a rational individual. (Maybe she was suffering from postpartem depression, Tom Cruise.) But maybe it was, maybe she was just that greedy and malicious.
Either way, there is that part of me that desperately wants to see her hang for this. Hell, there's part of me that wants to throttle every murderer and rapist around the world. Maybe I'm wrong to resist those temptations. Maybe I'm wrong to oppose the death penalty, when I can see where those who support it are coming from.
But I do oppose it. Call me stubborn, but I made up my mind about the death penalty back when I was a Christian, and the wavering of my faith in many tenets of that religion hasn't dulled my continued belief in two fundamentals: the belief in the possibility of personal redemption, and the belief in the sanctity of life.
Apparently Frances Newton did not value the sanctity of life in 1987. But does this completely rule out her chance at redemption? Has the sanctity of her life been destroyed by her crimes? Are we still living by the Code of Hammurabi, eye-for-an-eye? Where does our culture of life fit into all of this?
The questions keep coming, but the answers remain out of reach, if visible at all. I guess no one ever said the world was easy. Busy, busy, busy...
Song lyric of the day:
"Guilty as charged
But dammit, it ain't right
There's someone else controlling me..."
- Metallica, Ride the Lightning
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