wfn.org | PCT says ending death penalty reflects Christian love and forgiveness

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3034 Edition

>April 19~25, 2010

PCT says ending death penalty reflects Christian love and  forgiveness

>Reported by staff reporters

>Written by Lydia Ma

On April 6, PCT issued a statement during its 55th General  Assembly in support

of abolishing capital punishment based on its religious  convictions. According 
to

this statement, human beings were created in God’s image,  given immeasurable

dignity and value, and that is why even murderers have human  rights.

The statement underscored that though offenders should be punished  according

to their crimes, the death penalty is a cruel and unusual  punishment that is 
both

irreversible and widely abused. It is also fraught with problems  because 
Taiwan’s

judicial system’s impartiality and fairness has been  compromised. Furthermore,

churches and organizations around the world have come to agree  that death

penalties don’t alleviate social problems or crime.

The statement urged Taiwanese society to abide by their religious  convictions

instead of giving in to their feelings, by taking a step toward  forgiveness and

reconciliation. It said even murderers should be given the chance  to live so 
that

they might accept Christ, repent of their sins, and use the rest  of their 
lives to

reconcile with victims’ families and pay restitution.

When this statement was first read in the recent 55th PCT General  Assembly,

some pastors were worried that it was adopted too hastily and they  would have a

hard time convincing their parishioners. They also feared that  passing such a

statement when the general population still viewed capital  punishment as a

sensitive issue might fuel controversy within churches.

In response to their concerns, former PCT General Assembly  Moderator

Leonard Lin stressed that there are currently 44 inmates on death  row that 
could

be executed starting June – making the abolition of the death  penalty a 
pressing

life and death issue that everyone should be concerned about.

Lin further noted that PCT had campaigned for the abolition of the  death 
penalty

for more than 15 years. With rising suspicions that there have  been mishandled

cases, wrong sentences, and instances of torture used to extract  confessions,

the integrity of the judiciary needs to be improved. More  importantly, PCT must

make a stand when debate on the death penalty keeps deviating from  the real

>issues at stake.

Experts give their take during PCT forum on death penalty

Dr. Cheng Yang-en, Vice-Principal of Taiwan Theological College  and Seminary

According to Dr. Cheng Yang-en, Vice-Principal of Taiwan  Theological College

and Seminary, capital punishment is contrary to Christian  teachings and cannot

>improve any situation.

“Abolishing the death penalty is an obvious ecumenical trend.  There hasn’t been

much debate about that,” said Cheng, adding that both WCC and  WARC

passed resolutions opposing the death penalty in 1990 and 2004  respectively,

and called on member churches to support the abolition of the  death penalty.

Cheng pointed out that WCC and WARC hold the conviction that when

executioners put someone to death, they are essentially doing to  the offender

what the latter did to his victims. Furthermore, capital  punishment is 
contrary to

the message of the cross and contrary to the idea of justice.

He underscored that Christianity seeks to redeem lives, not  destroy lives, as 
its

way of solving the world’s problems. Using the death penalty  to get rid of sin

doesn’t work and stands against the core and spirit of  Christianity.

Rev. Chen Nan-jou, Former Vice-Principal of Yu-Shan Seminary

Contextual theology expert Rev. Chen Nan-jou observed that  Taiwanese people

are very zealous when it comes to religion, but unenthusiastic  when it comes to

applying religious convictions to the death penalty. That is why  they support 
the

>death penalty by and large.

Chen urged churches to reflect on four issues. First, the  public’s massive 
support

for the death penalty should convince churches that they  haven’t done enough in

proclaiming gospel and living out the teachings of Christ.

Second, churches haven’t done enough to help and reach out to  victims and their

families. Too many of them still live in despair because of their  loss and 
can’t

release their bitterness or move on with life.

Third, churches are not tuned to social trends and don’t know  the breadth of 
the

gospel well enough. That explains why they don’t know how to  use it to comfort

people living in the midst of a violent and corrupt society.

Finally, the church is not involved enough in social issues and  hasn’t done

enough outreach. This phenomenon explains why churches are  powerless to

oversee government agencies, such as the judiciary, when it  becomes corrupt.

As a Christian and on behalf of churches, Chen feels the need  repent and ask 
for

God’s mercy and forgiveness. He emphasized, “When  Christians debate on the

theological dimensions of the death penalty, they must consider  our flawed

judicial system and strive to reform the judiciary.”

Rev. Huang Ming-chen, General Secretary of Prison Fellowship  Taiwan

According to Rev. Huang, putting criminals to death won’t  comfort or heal the

hearts of victims’ families and there are better options to  restore justice.

“I admit that gunning down a criminal might relieve  victims’ families 
temporarily,

but they will not be comforted by executions in the long  run,” said Huang when

asked about his views on whether or not to abolish the death  penalty.

“Crime begins at home and later manifests itself in school  grounds. Our social

environment worsens crime. So, who is to blame for crime? The  answer is: It all

went wrong at the very beginning – at home. Bad home  environments cultivated

crime and it spilled over and led to notorious crimes and  notorious criminals 
on

death row. But governments are also to blame for how it all went  wrong at the

other end. They used their leverage to get rid of criminals by  taking away 
human

lives. This is not fair for either the victims’ families or  the offenders’ 
families.”

Huang feels that those on death row should be given a chance to  start over if 
they

have repented of their crimes. Those who choose not to repent  should spend the

rest of their lives in confinement and labor so that they can pay  restitution 
with

their labor. This ought to be how we restore justice.

He further emphasized the death penalty will not make our streets  or homes

safer. In the same way, hiring ex-convicts and hiring a regular  guy incurs the

same level of risk. The difference is really just in our minds  because of how 
we

discriminate against those who have been in prison.

Li Sheng-hsiong, lawyer, Chairman of PCT Church Law Committee

Li stated that the purpose of laws is to ensure that society  progresses along 
the

right path and help inmates repent of their sins. But the death  penalty cannot 
fulfill

these two purposes and the current judicial system is riddled with  flaws that

make wrong sentences likely. That is why we must at least put a  moratorium on

>the death penalty.

He went on to point out that laws have punishments attached to  them to serve

three purposes: retribution, deter crime, and educate the public.  Most people

support the death penalty because they believe it will deter  crime. However,

studies have shown otherwise and, ironically, countries that have  abolished the

>death penalty enjoy better public safety.

In response to the high level of public support for keeping the  death penalty, 
Li

commented, “Some things cannot be decided through a poll.  Sometimes, the

public can be misinformed and their opinions can be wrong.  Sometimes, public

>opinions can even impede progress.”

 From a human rights perspective, wrong sentences are possible but  once a

death sentence has been carried out, we’ve passed the point  of no return. “The

death penalty cannot adequately punish, deter, or reform someone.  The only way

to decrease crime is to change people’s hearts,”  concluded Li.

That is why he believes Christians must do more to share the  gospel with

inmates so that they can repent of their sins. But he also points  out that 
unless

people manage to forgive, the execution of criminals will not heal  any wounds –

further proving the death penalty is not effective.

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