no caps christianity

I know that I will be wading into controversial waters with this post but that just seems to be the place I live these days so why not go deeper. I have long held to a belief (contrary to many of my beloved Christian brothers and sisters) that there is no Christian basis for support of Capital Punishment. I waded into the debate a month or so ago with some thoughts on the Troy Davis execution but today I stumbled across an excellent post by Ben Witherington III on the issue. This is what I believe to be the core of his argument:

Jesus did not care just about the sacred worth of unborn life, or young and vulnerable life, though about the latter he indeed said things like ‘theirs is the Kingdom of God’, and he gave stern warning to those who cause the least, last, and lost to stumble. No, Jesus died for adult sinners as well. He died for hated Samaritans as well. He died for hated Romans as well. We could go on. He died for every age and stage of human life, because all of it was seen as of sacred worth and all of it needed atonement.

I have long wondered how a person could simultaneously claim to be pro-life with regards to abortion but pro-death when it comes to capital punishment. In the same way - how has Christendom justified it's many holy wars - slaughtering the infidel in Christ's name? Isn't that what we're so angry with Islam for doing? Witherington goes onto talk also about the broader scope of a non-violent Christian ethic:

Jesus wanted no violence at all done in his name. It is not merely an irony, it is a disgrace that Christians later thought Jesus might endorse a Crusade or two. Those were some of the most shameful things ever done in the name of Christ, but of course, we could name much more recent examples from the Holocaust or the dark days of Apartheid in South Africa.

And then there is the issue of vengeance - why do we feel the right to seek out vengeance and why do we sully the name of Christ by claiming some divine mandate to do so? If we want to spend billions and billions of dollars showing the world that we won't be pushed around as many western nations did after the events of September 11, 2001 that's fine - it is the right of the state to pursue that sort of "justice" but lets not bring Jesus in as an accomplice to something he wants no part of. And let's not delude ourselves as Christians into thinking that God not only supports our vengeful indulgences but condones our celebrations when vengeance is extracted. Regarding that issue Witherington says this:

I was watching TV and seeing all those celebrating Muslims in Libya on the day Ghaddafi was gunned down in the streets of his hometown. They were partying like the Bridegroom had returned. It reminded me of the American reaction to when bin Laden was killed in his own home. These reactions are entirely understandable on the basis of human nature, or even on the basis of the Muslim credo when it comes to such things.

But they are not justifiable on the basis of a Christian life ethic. As John Donne put it—- ‘any man’s death diminishes me, for I am a part of mankind…therefore do not ask for whom the death knell tolls, it tolls for me.’ 

Witherington is not new to this debate - he's been sounding the alarm for Christian pacifism  for quite some time and has come under quite a bit of attack for his positions ( I remember a blog post a while back where he tacked the American sacred cow of gun control and almost faced the firing squad in the comments for his position) but I have a hard time arguing with his interpretation of Scripture. That  doesn't mean however that I am myself a pacifist.

I haven't come down on the issue totally but I still lean toward an understanding that allows for state sanctioned war. I still believe that there are times when eliminating a great evil for the sake of protecting the innocents is the right thing to do.  I support and admire our military and think that placing your life on the line for others is one of the most noble things a person can do - but I do question the motivation behind some of our more recent exercises in force - was the issue really defense or was it vengeance. When the issue is vengeance I struggle with whether it is right for a Christian to participate. Moreover I recoil at  the idea that any of our battles are Christian wars - as if Jesus was the general giving the orders to fire on the enemy. I recognize that my thoughts are probably a little convoluted on this issue - but please give me grace as I am a work in progress.

My point in sharing this blog with you today is to raise the very real questions about what the non-violent Christian ethic really looks like and hopefully cause you to think about these issues as they pertain to your own practices and politics. Because Jesus really does care what we believe on this issue and I want to care about what Jesus cares about. Don't you?

Until next time,
Chris