A person serving a sentence of imprisonment until death, with no possibility of parole, is not serving a “life sentence.” It is a death sentence just as surely as a fatal injection, electrocution, hanging, firing squad or, for that matter, a guillotine. The simple fact is that the condemned person leaves the prison in a coffin. How long that takes is the only difference.
Those who have studied Latin may recognize that the term “capital punishment” may very well have beheading as its original meaning; the Latin word for “head” is “caput.” “Capital” is the adjective derived from it. It calls to mind the ghastly story of John the Baptist’s head being brought on a platter to King Herod’s party (Mark 6:17-28, Matthew 14:1-11) and the public spectacles of beheadings during the French Revolution, cheered on by large crowds.
Supporters of capital punishment often claim biblical support, citing “eye for eye” passages. But Jesus goes to the heart of the matter when he renounces retaliation (Matthew 5:38-42) and, like others in ancient times, advocates for the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12; even better, Luke 6:31).
Why bring this up now? Because Trump’s cancellation of Pete Hegseth’s plan to livestream a firing squad execution for any and all to see appeared to happen only because Trump gave in to the strong backlash from all sides, not because he himself found it objectionable. Many have condemned coarsening and brutalizing our society by validating and even celebrating bloodlust. Deadly violence cannot be the answer to deadly violence in a truly civilized society.
And no one, to my knowledge, has given thought to how grave the impact may be on the members of firing squads. How might they suffer? Soldiers who have killed in battle often bear mental and spiritual wounds for life. “Kill or be killed” is the rule in pitched battle, but taking life when one’s own life is not at risk is quite a different matter. No one should be ordered to do that.
Capital punishment is often touted as an effective deterrent, as Hegseth claims, and that it reduces the daily costs of housing and feeding convicts — fewer days, fewer dollars. Studies have shown that is false. In Eric Zorn’s online Picayune Sentinel, Oct. 15, he says, “The existence of the death penalty does not make people safer — virtually every study ever done shows that the threat of executions does not cut the rate of capital crimes. And paying for the separate prison housing and mandatory appeals for those on death row is far more costly than sentencing convicted killers to life without parole. In that sense, capital punishment is a government boondoggle — yet another expensive program that promises a lot and delivers almost nothing.”
Growing in mutual respect and care for all in our society should mean renouncing state-authorized killing by any means. Our “better angels” call us to that path.
Fred Reklau
Oak Park