Well, it went from a quiet week, to a rather noisy weekend... I suppose that happens when one puts their foot in their mouth.
It's been interesting seeing my name up in lights over on the Liblogs... for all the wrong reasons. Twenty-four hours later, I can say I totally understand why some of them were peeved... boy, I guess I really didn't think that one through. But, I'm just as prone to make a mistake as anyone... the right thing to do in such a situation is to take time to consider what exactly went wrong, and how to learn and grow from it. So, here goes...
I'll start off by saying my biggest mistake was the subject matter... if this had been any other topic other than the death penalty, it likely would have flown under the radar. As my long time readers (I hope) may understand, I'm a fairly lighthearted guy... my faith allows me to keep things in perspective, and the little things in life don't bother me as much in my day.
(Just so there's no mistake in understanding, the big things in life do bother me... for example, I was doing some reading last night on the continuing existence of racism in our culture... and shaking my head in disbelief. I truly don't understand how anyone can devalue another person based on the tone of their skin, or the accent of their mother tongue... it boggles my mind) But I see how the fact that the topic at hand held the life of another man in the balance, it made my remarks look to be in complete poor taste. That was problem number one.
Second of all, there was the aspect of the online poll. Right off the bat I'll say that I have little or no faith in online polls or petitions, for the exact reason I myself put on display yesterday... the results are only reflective of who knew of the polls existence, and in cases such as yesterday, who motivated enough of their forces out to vote for their point of view. Anyway, when it comes to blogging, online polls and other things of a political nature, I tend to have a more fun-loving attitude... sometimes, it's all just a big game. Unfortunately, I took that same attitude in this instance, when again, a man's life is ultimately in the balance. Poor taste indeed.
If it helps anyone understand, though it may not reflect well on me personally, I was not even considering this man in all of my thinking last night... this, in my mind, was simply another online poll that asked a question regarding the competence of our Government... a Government who I view as indeed being competent. As such, I only wanted to alert like minded individuals to show their support on the poll.
As for voting from three PC's, again, I was viewing it more as a game than anything else... I did not think it through to it's logical conclusion in this subject matter.
As for this particular matter, I do indeed support our Government's position at present... but upon reflection, I most certainly would not do so in such a flippant and dismissive manner. Subjects of great importance as this one deserve a mature and reasoned response... a response which I did not provide last night.
In that regard, I apologize to my readers for that.
To repeat what I said yesterday, I again apologize to anyone that was offended by my flippant post last night. It was not a Biblical or Christ-like response to such an issue. This was a matter that dealt with several important issues, and instead of a well thought out response, I offered up a childish barb.
Now, on to a thought out reply to the subject at hand.
For the record, I do agree with our Government's position on this matter, not to seek clemency for this man in Montana. Regardless of his citizenship, this is a matter of justice, albeit in a foreign nation.
As for people asking if the Lord Jesus Christ would condone this man's death, I think He would... the Lord Jesus always affirmed to the people that they ought to submit to those who are in authority over them, so long as those authorities do not require a man to reject God or His laws.
Some may point to the example of Christ's forgiveness of the woman caught in adultery in John 8, as to Christ rejecting capital punishment. I disagree with that view for several reasons. The first point in this regard is in the text itself... John 8:6 tells us that the religious leaders posing the question, were
"testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him." So one must realize that His response was designed more to deal with the religious leaders, and not this woman's act. The second point to consider in this is a question I've heard several times...
"Where was the man?" It takes two to commit adultery, and both were to be condemned to death for it. The Lord's response in seeking clemency for this woman could His response to the injustice the religious leaders were displaying, as they had apparently released the man they had caught in the act, while bringing the woman to the Lord in an effort to entrap Him. Thirdly, His response was to them as individuals, and not to them as the societal leaders they were... who had the legitimate God-given authority to put this woman to death for her crime. It is of note that the Lord did not condemn them for seeking to enforce God's laws, but rather responded to them in their efforts to entrap Him. The Lord never told them
"Putting her to death is wrong", but instead He turned the tables on them by reminding them of their own sin, of which we are all guilty. This is not in and of itself a condemnation of capital punishment.
Finally, though somewhat of a rabbit trail, though connected with the issue of capital punishment, we have in Luke 23:40-43. There, we have the witness of one of the other men condemned to death alongside the Lord Jesus, who said to the third man on death row,
"Do you not even fear God, seeing that you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong. Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." To this, the Lord replied,
"Today you will be with Me in Paradise." Though not the words of Christ Himself, I think there is much insight that we can gain from this passage. Christ nowhere condemns the practice of putting criminals to death... in fact, He even went so far as to take upon Himself our own death penalty for sinning against God. He never indicated that the sentence was unjust, even though He personally did not deserve it... but He went through with it all the same, because, in His opinion,
you were worth it.
Anyway, there's a lot to chew on here... hopefully, I've given ideas and issues to chew on, and not more opportunity for people to chew on me. ;-)
Comments are open again, for now. Please feel free to contribute, but if you just want to rant or reply in anger, I'll just remove the comment. I'm welcoming of other views and opinions, and am always open to learn, as I hope I've proved by this post.
Who knows... maybe your well thought out and polite two cents will be just what I need to make change for a dollar... or $1.06US...
Labels: blogging, The Lord Jesus Christ, web poll
Christian "Independent"
