Death Does Not Reign

POPE FRANCIS called our country to honor the sacredness of all human life. He called on Congress to embrace a consistent ethic of life—to abolish the death penalty. The state killed no one while Francis walked among us. But three days after his departure, blood flowed.

Six people in five states were scheduled to be executed in the U.S. within one week of each other in the beginning of October:

Wednesday, Sept. 30. Kelly Gissendaner, convicted for the orchestration of the 1997 murder of her husband, converted to Christianity while on death row in Georgia. Gissendaner, a respected student of theology, was put to death after three failed Supreme Court appeals.

Wednesday, Sept. 30. Richard Glossip, who is widely believed to be innocent of the 1997 murder-for-hire for which he was convicted, was scheduled to be executed in Oklahoma, but Gov. Mary Fallin issued a stay of execution. Fallin offered the stay not because she believed that Glossip was innocent, but rather because of questions over whether the state possessed the legal drug protocol to put him to death.

Thursday, Oct. 1. Alfredo Prieto was executed in Virginia for the rape and murder of a woman and her boyfriend in 1988. Prieto was believed to be a serial murderer with an IQ below 70, according to Amnesty International. Prieto had an appeal pending when the state killed him.

Friday, Oct. 2. Kimber Edwards was convicted of the murder-for-hire of his ex-wife in 2000, but another man recently confessed to having acted alone. Edwards, who has autism, originally confessed to the crime, but at his trial and ever since he has said he was innocent. His death sentence was commuted to life in prison by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon.

Tuesday, Oct. 6. Juan Martin Garcia was convicted of killing a man in the course of a robbery and was sentenced to death in Texas after his accomplice pled guilty to aggravated assault and testified against Garcia. Garcia appealed, claiming deficient counsel, PTSD, and mental disability, but his appeal failed due to lack of documentation and he was executed.

Wednesday, Oct. 7. Benjamin Cole was scheduled to be executed in Oklahoma, but the same drug protocol concerns that halted Richard Glossip’s execution stayed Cole’s execution as well.

In one week, the scheduled and carried-out executions of men and a woman who were likely innocent, proven mentally disabled, or had legitimately been reformed taught us some hard truths about ourselves. We are a society that craves blood, not peace; retribution, not reform; revenge, not restoration. These impulses were clear in the actions of two states and the U.S. Supreme Court in the killings of Gissendaner and Prieto. Advocates were heartened by Gov. Fallin’s stay in the case of Glossip, though it was only based on a technicality. And Kimber Edwards’ case reminds us all of the fallibility of our justice system and the irrevocability of death.

IN THE FACE of a society that is hell-bent on the maintenance of systemic sin, hope feels fleeting—even foolhardy. But it is not.

Paul sat in a Roman jail, awaiting the death penalty, when he penned these words: “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us” (Romans 5:3b-5a). 

Facing the mighty Roman Empire, Paul says to followers of Jesus: “Have hope!” Why? Because Creator God is more powerful than human empire—even Rome.

Therefore, I have hope that we will finally reckon with our society’s illogical, immoral, and unjust thirst for blood. I have hope that the clarity of our sin might also make plain our required repentance.

I have hope that our repentance will lead to renewed belief in the possibility of the reform and restoration of broken men and women to our society. I have hope that our repentance will lead to new action toward the reform and restoration of our broken justice system.

Though death may reign for the moment, I hope. 

I have hope ... and hope does not disappoint.