Enforce the death penalty today!

Tue, Sept 27. 2011

Editor: The Constitution, which is the highest law in our land, supports the protection of the right to life and also supports the death penalty. Our constitution states that “No person shall be deprived of his life intentionally, save in the execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence under any law of which he has been convicted.”{{more}} Chapter 1, section 2, sub-section 1 of the St. Vincent constitution order 1979.

This shows that the right to life must not be taken intentionally, or with premeditated malice – in other words ‘thou shalt do no murder.’ This clause serves as a protection of the right to life as it guarantees such. However, it also shows that due to the hardness of the heart of men, the court has the right to execute sentence in respect of criminal offences. Thus, this clause in our constitution reflects what the Creator of human beings commanded us: “thou shalt do no murder” and “whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God created he him,” Exodus 20:13 and Genesis 9:6. Murder is defined as “the act of unlawfully killing a human being with premeditated malice by a person with sound mind…” Noah Webster, 1828, American Dictionary of the English language.

However, many believe that for the judiciary to enforce the death penalty is state-sponsored murder. This could never be the correct way of reasoning, since the state neither intentionally takes the life of a murderer, nor does it premeditate or have malice towards the criminal. How could this be deemed as such, when this is a mandate from God who has defined how government should function? When dealing with evil, Paul noted that the ruler is not a terror to good works, but to the evil….for he beareth not the sword in vain, for he is a minister of God to execute wrath unto him that doeth evil, Romans 13: 3, 4.

Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his maker? Even the criminal uses death threats to instill fear to get the co-operation of the victim. Yet, many believe that to enforce the death penalty would not bring about deterrence. God has seen the result of evil and how widespread its influence is and for this he hath said “whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.”

I call for the enforcement of the death penalty; it is a method of punishment shown from scripture to be just. Let the will of God be done on earth as it is in heaven, for Christ sake “then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt

thou put the evil away from among you, and those that remain shall hear and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you,” Deuteronomy 19:19, 20. Amen

Karima Parris