Martha Hill
Mark Dean Schwab is scheduled to be executed today at 6 p.m. for the 1991 slaying of Junny Rio-Martinez.
Every human, without distinction of race, culture or religion, is created in the image and likeness of God, thus he or she is filled with the same dignity of person.
No one, much less a government, can take away the life of God’s creation. Why would I trust the government, which is often inept at best and hopelessly partial and corrupt at worst, to decide who lives and dies?
I understand that those who commit violent crimes must be separated from society lest they create new victims. And I do not suggest that they should not be punished. But as a person of faith living in a violent culture, I would urge victims' families and friends to seek justice without vengeance, and to seek an end to the cycle of violence by punishing murderers without executing them.
Retributive justice in modern society is meaningless, as the death penalty does not serve as a deterrent to criminal activity; therefore, the death penalty has become simply an instrument of vengeance. This is immoral.
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Mark Dean Schwab is scheduled to be executed today at 6 p.m. for the 1991 slaying of Junny Rio-Martinez.
Every human, without distinction of race, culture or religion, is created in the image and likeness of God, thus he or she is filled with the same dignity of person.
No one, much less a government, can take away the life of God’s creation. Why would I trust the government, which is often inept at best and hopelessly partial and corrupt at worst, to decide who lives and dies?
I understand that those who commit violent crimes must be separated from society lest they create new victims. And I do not suggest that they should not be punished. But as a person of faith living in a violent culture, I would urge victims' families and friends to seek justice without vengeance, and to seek an end to the cycle of violence by punishing murderers without executing them.
Retributive justice in modern society is meaningless, as the death penalty does not serve as a deterrent to criminal activity; therefore, the death penalty has become simply an instrument of vengeance. This is immoral.
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