Title: Catholics praise President Biden's mercy for death penalty inmates
Source: National Catholic Reporter
Link: ncronline DOT org/news/catholics-praise-president-bidens-mercy-death-penalty-inmates
The Money-Quotes:
Catholic opponents of the death penalty praised President Joe Biden's decision to commute the sentences of all but three of the 40 inmates on federal death row, a decision the White House said will stop President-elect Donald Trump from resuming stalled executions.
"Today's historic decision by President Biden advances the cause of human dignity and underscores the sacred value of every human life," said Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of Catholic Mobilizing Network.
Since the election, Catholic voices, led by Pope Francis, have called on America's second Catholic president to issue the commutations. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, revised by Pope Francis in 2018, calls the death penalty "inadmissible" and "an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person."
[…]
Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called the president's action a "significant step in advancing the cause of human dignity and respect for human life from womb to tomb in our nation."
"My brother bishops and I unite in expressing our gratitude that President Biden has commuted the federal death sentences of 37 men," he said. "We encourage all lawmakers to continue to work towards the total abolition of the death penalty and to redirect the energy and resources that currently go towards executions to provide compassionate and professional assistance to the families of victims."
Biden 1991: My bill has so many death penalty offenses, it does all but hang jaywalkers
Two things:
1. It's natural and normal that ones position on such things as killing other men softens with age.
2. Biden was a supreme politician who spoke the words he thought most popular at every point in his career. There's no reason to believe he ever really thought the death penalty was just.
3. One wonders where he drew the line with these commutations. Are some victims worth more than others? Are some murder weapons worse than others? Were 37 of the 40 convictions unjust? The death penalty is the harshest penalty of all - if you're for it you have to hold your nose and let it happen in all such convictions, and if you're against it you need to be 100% against it. Nothing is more unjust than picking and choosing based on some arbitrary standard.
If we ever get to heaven boys, it ain't because we ain't done nothin' wrong. - Kris Kristofferson
1. It's natural and normal that ones position on such things as killing other men softens with age.
2. Biden was a supreme politician who spoke the words he thought most popular at every point in his career. There's no reason to believe he ever really thought the death penalty was just.
3. One wonders where he drew the line with these commutations. Are some victims worth more than others? Are some murder weapons worse than others? Were 37 of the 40 convictions unjust? The death penalty is the harshest penalty of all - if you're for it you have to hold your nose and let it happen in all such convictions, and if you're against it you need to be 100% against it. Nothing is more unjust than picking and choosing based on some arbitrary standard.
One thing:
I can't speak for Biden's reasoning here, but the Catholic teaching is not that the DP is Unjust, but rather, that it is Inadmissible. In fact, it can be Just six ways to Sunday, and it would be just as Inadmissible as it always was.
Agreed about the 37 count. Yes, 37 is better than 0, but consistency would certainly seem to dictate going whole hog. Who knows? He's still Prez, so maybe he's got a January Surprise in the works for the remaining 3. Here's hoping.
The good news: Biden didn’t pardon the Boston bomber, the Tree of Life synagogue shooter, or the Charleston church shooter.
The bad news: Biden DID pardon 5 child killers and 32 mass murderers.
How is it that Joe Biden was deemed too senile to be charged for stealing classified documents, but is somehow fit to issue pardons and commute sentences?
The opinions expressed here may or may not be my own.
I post links to stuff.
Make your own choices.
I find that a life sentence without the possibility of parole is far more preferrable to the death penalty. I think it's worth the expense, although prisoner's elective surgery should, IMHO, never be on the public dime.
My issue is that prisoners who get Life too often get paroled anyway.
And murder again.
Quite a paradox.
In some Asian countries, dealing drugs is a capital offense.
The dealer effectively kills the addict, destroys the addict's family which the addict can't support.
Not much difference than breaking into a home and executing a family.It just takes longer.
No civil society should allow that, or so the philosophy goes.
Quite a paradox.
I'm waiting for someone, say a pope or politician, to come up with a solution.
I'm still waiting.
"Prov'dence don't fire no blank ca'tridges, boys."
--- Mark Twain in Roughing It
Trump: "Anyone caught trafficking minors will get the death penalty immediately"
I'd like to think you're among critical thinkers here, who won't believe that headline. But this is the type of thing that scares the puddin' out of those that are young or marginalized or just plain stupid. They already think Trump's out to get them and reading that Trump will suspend due process and start killing people on the spot isn't helpful. Is it any wonder why that whacked kid in PA thought he had to stop Trump before he was able to follow through with this type of 'threat'?
If we ever get to heaven boys, it ain't because we ain't done nothin' wrong. - Kris Kristofferson
Trump: "Anyone caught trafficking minors will get the death penalty immediately"
I'd like to think you're among critical thinkers here, who won't believe that headline. But this is the type of thing that scares the puddin' out of those that are young or marginalized or just plain stupid. They already think Trump's out to get them and reading that Trump will suspend due process and start killing people on the spot isn't helpful. Is it any wonder why that whacked kid in PA thought he had to stop Trump before he was able to follow through with this type of 'threat'?
It's going to take a generation of properly teaching kids about civics again in order to prevent such foolish interpretations of wicked headline texts.
Trump: "Anyone caught trafficking minors will get the death penalty immediately"
I'd like to think you're among critical thinkers here, who won't believe that headline. But this is the type of thing that scares the puddin' out of those that are young or marginalized or just plain stupid. They already think Trump's out to get them and reading that Trump will suspend due process and start killing people on the spot isn't helpful. Is it any wonder why that whacked kid in PA thought he had to stop Trump before he was able to follow through with this type of 'threat'?
It's going to take a generation of properly teaching kids about civics again in order to prevent such foolish interpretations of wicked headline texts.
It's going to take a generation (or three) to flush the system of the teachers who've been trained in liberal universities and replace them with teachers who teach fact and accurate history/civics. Those running our public universities are still influenced primarily by the progressive ideas of the 60's-70's. Let's pray their successors get back to focusing on on the important stuff. You know, stuff like college athletics.
Also, I don't think it's a bad thing if agents kill traffickers "on the spot" if they present a clear and present danger, but that's a different thing than the POTUs saying that's a new policy. (even if it is)
If we ever get to heaven boys, it ain't because we ain't done nothin' wrong. - Kris Kristofferson
