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“So
you are saying that an axe murderer goes to
heaven, if, just before death, he says,
‘Dear God, please forgive me.’
And you ‘re saying that he’ll be
there in the same place with those who lived
saintly lives like Mother Teressa?”
“I
am not saying that.
I am merely reporting the Christian
assumption which says that.”
I
ask, “What happens if the axe murderer just
says, ‘God, please forgive me’ and he’s
not really repentant of his behavior?”
Herbert
laughs and says,
“You’ll have to ask God for the
answer to that question.
Christian doctrine says the sinner must
be repentant, but, here again, where do you draw
the line between true, deep repentance at one
end of the pole and just saying the words on the
other.”
Herbert continues,
“If the criminal doesn’t ask God for
forgiveness, he goes to hell forever.
In light of the criminal’s choice to
ask for forgiveness, execution of the physical
body is almost irrelevant.
In fact, capital punishment could
be considered a great blessing.”
“A
blessing? You’ve got to be kidding!”
“Well,
just look at the Christian beliefs, and then you
tell me. If the Christian assumption is correct, by the death of
the physical body, every criminal who has
sincerely asked for God’s forgiveness is
ushered directly into an eternal heaven of bliss
and joy without having to endure any more of the
pain and suffering of Earth life.
For a condemned human facing life in a
miserable prison under the constant control of
guards, and often at the mercy of sadistic,
fellow prisoners, an immediate ride directly to
heaven really is a great blessing."
“So,
instead of receiving a terrible punishment, the
criminal is actually being given a wonderful
gift.”
“Yup!
If the Christians are right, he sure
is.”
“So
are you saying that an axe murderer, a
terrorist, and even a man who has raped and then
murdered dozens of women and children can get
into heaven if, at any time before death, he,
with sincerity, simply says, ‘Dear God, I’m
sorry I did those bad things.
Please forgive me’?”
 18-2
“I
am not saying that. I am merely
reporting what’s in the Christian theology.”
“And
are you are saying that the saintly person who
commits a serious sin just before death gets
shipped off to hell forever if he forgets to ask
forgiveness?”
“Again,
I am not saying that. I
am merely reporting that is another of the
Christian assumptions.”
“And
what about reincarnation?"
“In
the Reincarnation assumption, the criminal
is assumed to be an eternal soul temporarily
living in a physical body.
At death, he sheds that body as simply as
you take off your clothes.
Execution is merely a ticket to a
different dimension of reality.
By being executed, the criminal is simply
freed of his ties to this life and is later
reborn into another life.
What level or degree of consequence he
brings to that next life from his crime is
another unknown.
Some theories say he will reap the karmic
consequences of his actions. If the karmic assumption is correct, execution of the
body merely shifts the time and place of
retribution.
Others say no consequences follow the
body’s demise.
If this is correct, the criminal simply
gets a free ticket out of a bad situation.
Thus, if the reincarnation assumption is
correct, execution of the physical body produces
either a positive or a neutral consequence.”
I
say, “So unless atheism is the correct
assumption, capital punishment is a weird joke
on those who believe in it?”
“Yes,
a blatantly-obvious, weird joke, sitting right
under everyone’s noses, and yet, the
bureaucrats and the advocates don’t see it.
Considering the significance of the
consequences involved, it’s amazing that those
promoting the death penalty don’t bothers to
examine the issue and find out as much as
possible about what they’re actually doing.
I have one more point to share with you
relative to capital punishment, and that deals
with correcting mistakes.
Suppose you apply the death penalty and
later find you’ve made a mistake, how easy is
it to correct your mistake?”
“It’s
literally impossible to correct.”
“And
are there readily available alternatives that
would be equally as effective at preventing the
offender from repeating his offense?”
“Yes,
of course there are!”
“And
are these alternative actions more easily
reversible, if they are later determined to be
in error?”
“Infinitely
more.”
“So,”
Herbert continues, “is capital punishment
forward-looking, crime prevention or
backward-looking punishment?”
“Isn’t
there some famous quote somewhere about the name
of something describing what it stands for?
Following that standard, committing a
socially-sanctioned murder could be labeled
simply as ‘revenge’?”
“Now
do you see how assumptions change the meaning of
an action?”
“Yes,”
I reply, “assumptions obviously do make a big
difference.”
“And
we make hundreds of assumptions every day.
Most, obviously, are less dramatic than
capital punishment.”
“Are
there other areas of life which give us very
different perspectives when viewed from each of
these three assumptions?”
“Yes,
but that’s another story for another day.”
“Seems
I’ve heard that line somewhere before.
Please just mention a couple of the areas
you’re referring to.”
“I’ll
just mention the most profound farce of all —
the anti-abortion war. This huge controversy is based on fantasy, on illusion,
and on totally unprovable, religious
assumptions.” 18-3
“Why
would anyone want to ignore the truth?”
“Denial!
It’s their attempt to hide from the
realities of life, but that’s several other
stories for several other days so I’d rather
not even get close to that question.”
I
ask, “Is it that bad?”
“I
wouldn’t use the word bad; however, denial is
a serious and far-reaching problem on both the
social and personal levels.
It touches the core of the work that I
do. Denial
touches the very core of life on this planet.”
End
of Chapter Eighteen -- The
Assumptions Underlying Capital Punishment
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