“There is simply no moral justification for the state to execute a child of God in the name of justice.”

Does this mean that ECUSA will change its position on abortion?  Grandpa Dino wonders.

“...but we encourage you to move full speed ahead on abortions.”

So when did ECUSA vote to dissaffiliate from the RCRC?

Whats the old adage about stopped clocks?  In this case they are right, but for all of the wrong reasons.  No where does Jesus forbid violence.  he makes it clear that violence is not a generally good thing, but he does not forbid it.  Nor was Jesus a pacifist.  He did not politely ask the money changers to leave the temple.  He drove them out forcibly.  (That’s as far as I care to go with that analogy.  I don’t want some revisionist saying I am urging violence against the money changers running TEC.)

Also we must note that wherever Jesus finds those whose manner of life is sinful he admonished them to metanoia (amendment of life grounded in repentance).  Thus with women of easy (or commercially negotiable) and other known sinners he does two things.  First he forgives them their sins but then he tells them they need to change their lives.

Yet when He receives the centurion (a low ranking Roman military officer) and He heals the soldier’s servant in abstencia he very conspicuously does not tell the centurion “I healed your servant and by the way you need to find another line of work.”  Rather He praises the man’s faith when sending him on his way.

We also have clear admonitions from St. Paul that we are obligated to obey civil authority and to respect the laws.  In Romans chapter 13 we find a direct affirmation of the state’s right to the power of coercion and the use of force in the execution of justice.

All of this said, I am more or less opposed to capital punishment.  But my reasoning is largely utilitarian.  There is nor rational argument for the DP in most modern states beyond retribution.  And when weighed against the costs both in terms of money and the very real danger of miscarriage of justice the benefits of the whole thing becomes rather questionable.

Let me get this straight.  If you manage to make it out of the womb intact, nobody can take your life, no matter what you do.  On the other hand, having done nothing and being innocent, anybody can rip you out of the womb and dispose of you as so much unwanted and unneeded tissue, just because they want to.  Is there is course in TEC seminaries that taught these guys how to deny simple logic while keeping a straight face?

Yikes   Horrible typos in above post.  Apologies.

Note to self:  PROOF READ!!!

#4-I too am more or less opposed to the DP on utililitarian gounds.  The bishops speak correctly to its uneven application…the innocent do get executed and the guilty do go free.  Better then from a functional point of view to incarcerate a convicted first degree murderer to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
#5-Agree with you about denying simple logic. 
PresbyG

A liberal is just a conservative who hasn’t been raped or maimed yet.

The comments that have pointed out the inconsistancy of those who approve of abortion and also disapprove of the death penalty have made a solid point.

It is an utter hypocrisy to consider a person who has been convicted of killing another person to be more worthy of life than a child who is to be aborted.

This is painfully clear when a third trimester child is ,with the approval and often the assistance of the state, killed prior to leaving its mother’s womb.

Partial birth abortion of obviously viable, outside the womb, infants in the last months their mothers’ pregnancy is the ultimate expression of this hypocrisy on the part of bishops who oppose the death penalty.

Please amend my comment (#9.) where I said,
“Partial birth abortion of obviously viable, outside the womb, infants in the last months their mothers’ pregnancy is the ultimate expression of this hypocrisy on the part of bishops who oppose the death penalty.”
to read
“Partial birth abortion of obviously viable, outside the womb, infants in the last months their mothers’ pregnancy is the ultimate expression of this hypocrisy.”

I will never - NEVER - forget the day I was told by a TEC priest that TECs position on abortion was similar to Bill Clinton’s: that it should be safe, legal and rare. I was stunned. One, that ANYONE would cite Bill Clinton as a moral authority, and two, that ANYONE in a collar could actually agree with it.

As the Maryland General Assembly prepares to convene on Wednesday, we hope that legislators will decide against the death penalty in Maryland. Doing so would represent an enormous moral failure for the state and for civil society.

Is it just me, or does this semi-literate paragraph not say exactly the opposite of what the rest of the article says?

Abortion on demand is murder…..pure and simple, and for TEC to condone it is tantamount to being an accessory to murder.  I too am opposed to the death penalty.  Now, having said that, who here is opposed to Life in Prison Without Parole?  Many say that this is even worse.  It is at best a slow and lingering death just the same.

I think a case for the DP can be made on the grounds that it makes it absolutely certain that the criminal will not commit another crime.  It also costs less than a lifetime of imprisonment. 
On the other hand, is a criminal who has never been baptized is executed, the opportunity (how ever slim) for a soul to be saved is forever missed.

You’re right, David, they’ve said the opposite(I assume) of what they meant to say.  I accept the Catholic Church’s teaching which is that the state has the right to execute, but if bloodless means are sufficient to protect innocent persons then bloodless forms of punishment are more in conformity with the dignity of the human person.  These Episcopal bishops overstate their case when they say, ” There is simply no moral justification for the state to execute a child of God in the name of justice.”  Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Hussein, etc, were all good candidates for a just execution.  I also think that someone like John Gotti who would have carried on his criminal enterprise(including murder) from prison would have made a just candidate.

#12 and #15… David and Phil.  That was the first thing I noticed too.  Though actually if you think about it…

As the Maryland General Assembly prepares to convene on Wednesday, we hope that legislators will decide against the death penalty in Maryland. Doing so would represent an enormous moral failure for the state and for civil society.

... all we can conclude from that is that the bishops are saying “We vigorously hope for enormous moral failure in the state and in civil society.”  That strikes me as a pretty fair account of most TEC bishops; I don’t think they are contradicting themselves at all.