by Eleanor Blythe

Created on: April 20, 2008

No one forces the murderers in our society to kill innocent people. Murderers choose to shoot, stab, strangle, drown and beat us - their victims and potential victims - to death. Their choices have consequences.

When I hear of a death row case, especially involving murder, I feel relieved that the convicted killer will eventually be put to death. It is not that I hate or have blood-lust. I simply advocate a civil society, where we can live in peace without being picked off like ducks during Open Season. After the convict dies - a very humane death, by the way - he will never again be able to harm another person. Not another inmate, not a prison guard, not an innocent child . . . and no one in my family.

When I hear opponents of the death penalty talk about the injustice of killing convicts, I think of the injustice of convicts killing innocent citizens.

When I hear opponents of the death penalty quote the Bible - "Turn the other cheek" - I also know that Jesus said "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." In other words, live under the laws of the land. And in a Death Penalty State, the law says that you may be put to death if you kill.

When I hear opponents of the death penalty say, "But we must temper justice with mercy," I can only assure them that lethal injection is extremely merciful. If I had no mercy in my heart, I would want each killer to die in the manner they took a life. That would be true justice. But it would not be merciful.

Someone once told me, "But if someone is executed, they may not have time to find the Lord and repent!" My response was that anyone convicted of murder and placed on Death Row has about 20 years of appeals and due process. Surely in those two decades they can spare a few minutes to reconcile themselves to God?

Since murderers know the law, and despite the law act with impunity, they earn their penalties. They waste the lives of their victims. In turn, their own life becomes waste. In their wake they leave broken families. Heart broken mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, daughters, sons and a multitude of other loved ones must carry one. To do so is made easier when, at last, the victimizer is put to death.

Acknowledging their pain, it makes sense when some of the more traumatized supporters of the death penalty say: "Death Row is the great garbage disposal." This may be a horrifying concept to some - but to devastated families it is their horrifying, hardened, truth.

The ultimate blow against humanity is taking an innocent life. The ultimate consequence is taking a guilty life. To avoid the death penalty, perhaps criminals should not kill their fellow citizens?

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