Dr. Mohler writes an interesting review of a study published by Professor Walter Berns of Georgetown University in “Religion and the Death Penalty,” published in The Weekly Standard. Berns “argues that support of the death penalty is tied to belief in God. He documents the link between secularization and declining support for capital punishment.

From Mohler’s article:

“Professor Berns offers genuine insight and understanding in this argument. Indeed, I think his argument is even larger than the death penalty in its application. The absence of God — and thus the absence of a transcendent standard of judgment and morality — inevitably weakens all moral judgment. This certainly applies in the case of the death penalty, but it must also apply in other cases as well. When a transcendent standard of judgment and value disappears, the regime of therapy remains. Crime becomes anti-social behavior, wrong-doing becomes a syndrome, and moral judgment is endlessly hesitant and constantly renegotiated.”

I leave it to the reader to draw their own conclusions, but I found the article quite interesting.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 10:38 am.
Categories: Random Stuff.

Viewing 4 Comments

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    Mohler, who frankly is a frightening man, thinks Bern is right in his editorial. But consider this sentence from Berns' article:

    "Punishment has its origins in the demand for justice, and justice is demanded by angry, morally indignant men, men who are angry when someone else is robbed, raped, or murdered, men utterly unlike Camus's Meursault. This anger is an expression of their caring, and the just society needs citizens who care for each other, and for the community of which they are parts. One of the purposes of punishment, particularly capital punishment, is to recognize the legitimacy of that righteous anger and to satisfy and thereby to reward it."

    This is, sorry to say, blatantly anti-Christian. If this is a justification for Christians to support the death penalty, it's a sad one for sure. Like most of Mohler and his ilk, it assumes that it [is] possible to know what is "moral" apart from the incarnation, which of course is a useless assertion for Christians. Consider, for example, God's own words on anger in Matthew 5.
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    Micah,
    I think the incarnation speaks volumes about capital punishment. After all, isn't that what our incarnate God "set his face like flint" to accomplish, (i.e. death by capital punishment, i.e. salvation by capital punishment)?

    In Matthew 5, I think Christ is talking to individuals about how they should deal with anger, not governments and about how they should restrain evil and protect their citizens. I don't think Bern's use of the word anger is appropriate because that word can mean many things to many people. Mainly, because people view anger as an emotional response, not one of rational. I would, however, agree with him that you can not have mercy, Bern's word is "caring", without judgment. Having mercy, in the first place, on someone implies that they have done something wrong that warrents your mercy. So if you are going to throw out an arguement for judgement, you are going to have to throw out the idea of mercy as well.

    Also, I think that their are differences between what the Bible calls us to do as individuals and what it calls us to do in certain roles that we are to play. For example, I believe that I am called to turn the other cheek, and I will, but it also calls for me to protect my family. If someone strikes me, I will turn the other cheek. If someone strikes my wife, I will defend her. I don't think either of those two actions are anti-Christian.

    Likewise, what we are asked to do as Christians and what role the government plays are different. Romans 13 I think would be a good example of that.

    Okay, enough for today. Hope you are doing well in Middle TN. Tell the family we all said "hello" and if you see Keith Urban, or Tim McGraw tell them I said "hi".
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    TVD,

    If is see any country music stars, I probably won't speak to them at all. Sorry. But thanks for the greetings and hope you guys are well too!

    All I know is what I learned at church: God makes possible a world and a "politics" in which we need not fear anyone enough to kill them (not even, as the Father shows us, when our own children are the ones who are threatened), by defeating death in every way through the incarnation . Anger is merely motivated and mobilized fear. Undoubtedly the nation-state is incapable of inhabiting this kind of fearlessness (otherwise, there would be no war). As Christians, though, our first task is to witness our faith that God makes possible a world and a politics in which we need not fear anyone enough to kill them.

    It's hard to do that when, like Mohler, Christians are groping for reasons to support killing people. At the very least, we should call those people to task when they employ anti-Christian rhetoric.
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    "All I know is what I learned at church"...
    I believe you learned a little bit outside of "church"....if not then where's my MDIV. I went to church every week.
 

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