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My view Wrong message


In a recent Sunday Gospel reading from Luke 10, Jesus is asked “who is my neighbor?” He responds with the story of the good Samaritan. How, then, do we place his response up against the cartoon that apparently attempts to illustrate an unlovable neighbor (July, page 45)? The church spends a great deal of time and energy wondering why involvement in congregations is diminished. The car- toon gives us a clear indicator. Perhaps we are the ones, with our judgment of others based on how they look, where they live and what they wear, who are


the hard to love neighbors. The Rev. Julie G. Hutson Seattle


Don’t worry


Every month I read the editor’s column in which he regularly apologizes for whatever discomfort, frustration, aggra- vation or controversy the magazine is likely to provoke. The monthly ruck- uses are testimony to the vigor, involve- ment and commitment of the members of the ELCA. I read the letters to the edi- tor and applaud the energy and the argu- mentativeness of those objecting to the perspectives, observations, beliefs and opinions expressed in The Lutheran. We are a group of dynamic believers, each of us seeking to understand and live God’s will, a challenge we began with baptism and one we renew every week at the communion table. Martin Luther


would be so pleased. Suzanne O’Dea McKinleyville, Calif.


Send “Letters” to: Letters to the Editor, The Lutheran, 8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago, IL 60631-4183; fax: 773-380- 2409; email lutheran@thelutheran.org. Please include your name, city and state. Your letter will be considered for publication unless you state otherwise. The Lutheran publishes letters representa- tive of those received on a given subject. Be brief and limit your letter to a single topic. Letters may be edited for space and clarity. Letters must be signed, but a re- quest for anonymity will be honored if the subject matter is personally sensitive.


“My view” submis- sions should be 400 words on a societal event or issue or on issues in the life of the ELCA. All submis- sions are subject to editing. Send to: “My view, ” The Lutheran, 8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago, IL 60631; email: lutheran@ thelutheran.org; fax: 773-380-2409.


By Bernard K. Kern


Abolish death penalty Reasons vary but point in 1 direction


T


Kern, a retired ELCA pastor living in Fort Worth, Texas, serves on the board of directors of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and is a former executive director of Goodwill Industries of Fort Worth Inc.


he 1991 ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted the social statement on the death penalty by more than a two- thirds majority. The statement affirmed our church’s


opposition to capital punishment. Today it’s increasingly evident that public opinion and the law are moving toward abolishing the death penalty. These are among the factors that are coalescing to hasten its abolishment: • The moral or religious convictions against killing people. • Legal issues ranging from jury tampering and false wit- ness testimony to incompetent legal representation and judi- cial misconduct. • The inability to be 100 percent certain that the accused is guilty, leading to the likelihood that innocent people have been executed. • Racism: African-Americans represent 13 percent of the U.S. population but 42 percent of those on death row. • Wealth inequality: more than 90 percent of those on death row could not afford their own attorney. • Studies show the death penalty isn’t a deterrent to murder. • The conviction that those with mental illness or intellec- tual disabilities should not be executed. • The backlog of cases awaiting adjudication, prompting judges to press for plea bargains that are often detrimental to those accused. • The use of DNA testing. • The cost of the death penalty is two or three times that of life imprisonment. • Restorative justice, rather than retributive, is seen as bet- ter serving the goals of the criminal justice system and the needs of the victim’s family, friends and general public. • Murder victims’ family members testify that forgiveness, not revenge, is the best therapy for dealing with their loss. • Juries often choose the sentence of life without the pos- sibility of parole over the death penalty when it is offered. • The conviction that the death penalty violates the Sixth and Eighth amendments of the Bill of Rights. • The death penalty removes any possibility for correcting judicial errors, for the redemption and amendment of life of the condemned person, and for any possible reparation. There is only one logical conclusion: abolish the death


penalty. Many are recognizing the need for a fundamental reform of the criminal justice system. Ending executions is an essential step in that effort. As the social statement notes: “We would be a better society by joining the many nations that have already abolished capital punishment.” The day is not far away when this hope will be realized. 


September 2013 49


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