wfn.org | National church bodies share historic opposition to death

["Barb Powell"<powellb@ucc.org>]

          penalty
Jan. 26, 1998

Office of Communication
United Church of Christ
Hans Holznagel, (216) 736-2214
holznagh@ucc.org
On the Web:  www.ucc.org

Office of Communication
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Clifford L. Willis, (317) 635-3113, ext. 207
cwillis@oc.disciples.org
On the Web:  www.disciples.org

National Council of Churches
Carol Fouke, (212) 870-2252
carolf@ncccusa.org
On the Web:  www.ncccusa.org

National church bodies share
historic opposition to death penalty
                      
   The three church bodies whose leaders today called for a
Texas convict's life to be spared have been on record against capital
punishment since the 1950s and 1960s. 
   The General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples
of Christ) and its predecessor body first spoke in opposition to
capital punishment in 1957.  The General Synod of the United
Church of Christ has been on record against the death penalty since
1969.  Both churches have since reaffirmed their historic positions
numerous times.
   The National Council of Churches position against the
death penalty dates back to a 1968 General Board statement.
   The nearly 1-million-member Christian Church (Disciples
of Christ) has 3,900 congregations in the U.S. and Canada.  The
General Assembly, which meets biennially, attracts about 8,000
persons   half of whom are voting representatives.
   The 1.5-million-member United Church of Christ, with
offices in Cleveland, has more than 6,000 local churches in the
United States and Puerto Rico.  Its General Synod is a body of
approximately 700 delegates that also meets biennially.
   The churches are two of the 33 member communions of
the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., which
include Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican bodies.
   In the UCC's and the Disciples' systems of governance,
Synod and Assembly resolutions and national leaders' statements
are not binding upon other parts of the church. Local churches and
members are free  to hold differing opinions.
   Following are texts of resolutions from the three bodies.
   A "Resolution to Abolish Capital Punishment," adopted
by the United Church of Christ's 7th General Synod, July 2, 1969, in
Boston, reads:
              "Whereas the Committee for Racial Justice, the Council
   for Christian Social Action, and the UCC Ministers for
   Racial and Social Justice are unalterably opposed to
   capital punishment and cannot remain silent regarding its
   continuance in our society, and

              "Whereas the human agencies of legal justice are
   fallible, and

              "Whereas we are concerned about the disproportionate
   number of black and poor who occupy death row and,
   white or black, are victims of an evil which decent people
   of our society have too long endured and which violates
   categorically our Judeo-Christian ethic, and

              "Whereas this outdated and barbaric practice has been
   found to discriminate on the basis of skin color and
   economic condition, and

              "Whereas the last-minute stay of execution of 17-year-
   old Marie Hill in the gas chamber of North Carolina
   reminds us that one of the gross injustices in our judicial
   system is the retention of this barbaric practice.

              "Therefore be it resolved that the United Church of
   Christ commit itself to join in
   a nationwide campaign for the abolition of capital
   punishment and call upon other secular and religious
   institutions to join in a maximum effort for the abolition
   of capital punishment in the following:

              "a.  Enlisting the support of Conferences and of other
   denominations and agencies and co-operating with
   existing efforts to abolish capital punishment.

              "b.  Developing legislative and other political action for
   the abolition of capital punishment.

              "c.  Resisting efforts to reinstitute capital punishment in
   those states where it has been abolished.

              "d.  Testing the constitutionality of laws permitting
   capital punishment.
              "e.  Making available and assisting in the raising of
   funds to pursue the above."
   The Disciples' earliest resolution against the death penalty
was passed by the then International Convention of Christian
Churches (Disciples of Christ).  The measure, passed during the
1957 Cleveland meeting, states: 
              "We believe that Christians can no longer justify
   support of the practice of capital punishment. It has
   become increasingly clear that the certainty of
   apprehension and conviction rather than severity of
   punishment is the real deterrent to crime. Under such
   circumstances the death sentence becomes not a real
   protection to society but only a crude form of vengeance
   of retributive justice. Christian justification of punishment
   is always found in the hope of rehabilitation of the
   offender; since dead people cannot be rehabilitated, we
   can in no way defend capital punishment on Christian
   grounds.

              "In a very real sense also the practice of capital
   punishment stands in the way of more creative,
   redemptive and responsible treatment of crime and
   criminals: There is the danger that society by
   concentrating attention on the execution of a few
   criminals may mislead its members into thinking that it is
   dealing effectively with crime prevention. Christians must
   insist upon the importance of crime prevention and the
   rehabilitation of offenders rather than upon retribution."

   A policy statement of the National Council of Churches,
titled "Abolition of the Death Penalty" and adopted by the NCC's
General Board on Sept. 13, 1968, reads:
              "In support of current movements to abolish the death
   penalty, the National Council of Churches hereby declares
   its opposition to capital punishment.  In so doing, it finds
   itself in substantial agreement with a number of member
   denominations which have already expressed opposition
   to the death penalty.

              "Reasons for taking this position include the following:

              "(1) The belief in the worth of human life and the
   dignity of human personality as gifts of God;

              "(2) A preference for the rehabilitation rather than
   retribution in the treatment of offenders;

              "(3) Reluctance to assume the responsibility of
   arbitrarily terminating the life of a fellow-being solely
   because there has been a transgression of law;

              "(4) Serious question that the death penalty serves as a
   deterrent to crime, evidenced by the fact that the homicide
   rate has not increased disproportionally in those states
   where capital punishment has been abolished;

              "(5) The conviction that institutionalized disregard for
   the sanctity of human life contributes to the brutalization
   of society;

              "(6) The possibility of errors in judgment and the
   irreversibility of the penalty which make impossible any
   restitution to one who has been wrongfully executed;

              "(7) Evidence that economically poor defendants,
   particularly members of racial minorities, are more likely
   to be executed than others because they cannot afford
   exhaustive legal defenses;

              "(8) The belief that not only the severity of the penalty
   but also its increasing infrequency and the ordinarily long
   delay between sentence and execution subject the
   condemned person to cruel, unnecessary and unusual
   punishment;

              "(9) The belief that the protection of society is served as
   well by measures of restraint and rehabilitation, and that
   society may actually benefit from the contribution of the
   rehabilitated offender;

              "(10) Our Christian commitment to seek the redemption
   and reconciliation of the wrong-doer, which are frustrated
   by his execution.

              "Seventy-five nations of the world and thirteen states of
   the United States have abolished the death penalty with no
   evident detriment to social order.  It is our judgment that
   the remaining jurisdictions should move in the same
   humane direction.
   
              "In view of the foregoing, the National Council of
   Churches urges abolition of the death penalty under
   federal and state law in the United States, and urges
   member denominations and state and local councils of
   churches actively to promote the necessary legislation to
   secure this end, particularly in the thirty-seven states
   which have not yet eliminated capital punishment."

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