The most unjust execution
In the last two days, the wake and the funeral in Los Angeles of executed quadruple murderer and gang founder Stanley Williams have served as a reminder that more than a few people consider the death penalty a far graver issue than aborting babies.
Never mind that Pope John Paul II, in Brazil, called abortions the most unjust execution. Every aborted baby is innocent -- and is denied the right to Baptism.
If Stanley Williams was not a death row convict but a baby in his mother's womb, how many people would be holding candlelight vigils to save his life?
The total number of prisoners executed in the USA in the 28 years since the death penalty was reinstituted in 1977 reached 1,000 this month. That's less than a third of the babies whom the USA's abortionists dismember alive every day.
By the way, The Tidings of December 16 carries an anti-death penalty piece by regular columnist Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI. That's fine, and no doubt Father is against abortions as well. But he pens this inaccuracy: "It took 2000 years before, finally, a pope stood up and pronounced unequivocally that the death penalty was wrong...No pope, again, ever, will affirm the contrary."
In fact, Pope John Paul II strongly recommended against the death penalty, but did not completely rule it out "in cases of absolute necessity."
The Catechism, in #2267, also recommends against the death penalty; but it adds, in #2266, "...the traditional teaching of the Church has acknowledged as well-founded the right and duty of legitimate public authority to punish malefactors by means of penalties commensurate with the gravity of the crime, not excluding, in cases of extreme gravity, the death penalty."
To point all this out is not to advocate the death penalty; it's to ask why death penalty opponents ignore all the preborn babies who are slated for execution.
Are Catholic opponents of executions going to start holding vigils in front of our area's many abortion business "death rows?" Let's not hold our breath.
Never mind that Pope John Paul II, in Brazil, called abortions the most unjust execution. Every aborted baby is innocent -- and is denied the right to Baptism.
If Stanley Williams was not a death row convict but a baby in his mother's womb, how many people would be holding candlelight vigils to save his life?
The total number of prisoners executed in the USA in the 28 years since the death penalty was reinstituted in 1977 reached 1,000 this month. That's less than a third of the babies whom the USA's abortionists dismember alive every day.
By the way, The Tidings of December 16 carries an anti-death penalty piece by regular columnist Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI. That's fine, and no doubt Father is against abortions as well. But he pens this inaccuracy: "It took 2000 years before, finally, a pope stood up and pronounced unequivocally that the death penalty was wrong...No pope, again, ever, will affirm the contrary."
In fact, Pope John Paul II strongly recommended against the death penalty, but did not completely rule it out "in cases of absolute necessity."
The Catechism, in #2267, also recommends against the death penalty; but it adds, in #2266, "...the traditional teaching of the Church has acknowledged as well-founded the right and duty of legitimate public authority to punish malefactors by means of penalties commensurate with the gravity of the crime, not excluding, in cases of extreme gravity, the death penalty."
To point all this out is not to advocate the death penalty; it's to ask why death penalty opponents ignore all the preborn babies who are slated for execution.
Are Catholic opponents of executions going to start holding vigils in front of our area's many abortion business "death rows?" Let's not hold our breath.
posted by Quintero at 6:35 PM
6 Comments:
Quintero-
Excellent post. Well said! Keep up the good work.
I'll fall over dead the day I see the Prejeanites spending half the time on the unborn or patients being starved to death that they do on murderers, terrorists, and drug pushers.
Quintero writes:
"If Stanley Williams was not a death row convict but a baby in his mother's womb, how many people would be holding candlelight vigils to save his life?"
Yeah, and Father Ponnet who was one of the so-called religious leaders who lobbied to save Tookie's life, signed a declaration demanding that the government do nothing to save Terri Schiavo's life.
We need a new archbishop like right now to clean up the sordid mess in Mahony's LA.
Why can't I see my comment?
Unfortunantly, the anti-DP crowd fails to realize that it was Jesus Himself that was the main proponent for the DP.
It comes down to expiation of sin.
Jesus very easily could have just waived His arm and then forgiven all of Mankind, and hence, opened the Gates of Heaven and made salvation a possibility.
But no... Jesus knew that it took a blood sacrifice to expiate sin.
If I spill others blood in sin, I must have my blood spilled to expiate such. Yes, it really is that simple.
And unlike the hand-wringers still in mourning over The Tookster, it's irrelevent if one becomes a saint in prison. There still is a matter of expiation for sin committed.
Much like St Didacus, The Good Thief, who said "...but we are getting what we deserve". If one were to murder one of my family, I would like to think that while I'm strapping him/her into the chair, I would like to think that I could say "I love you and forgive you". But I would definitly say "... but you are getting what you deserve".
Your interest in putting the Church's teaching in context is so insensitive to our need for an agenda to cling to. Shame on you for telling the whole truth!
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