Dylann Roof, the white supremacist who murdered nine African Americans attending a church bible study, was sentenced to death in a federal court earlier this month. It was expected. Roof's crime was a monstrous evil. You'll find few who feel he's undeserving of the sentence. To be honest, I resonate with that sentiment too. And yet, when I peer deeper into my anger toward him, I have to admit executing him doesn't really set things to right; it only feels it might. Therein lies the crux of the problem: on the Christian account, the justice in capital punishment doesn't consist in feelings of satisfaction achieved through retaliation or vengeance, but in setting to right what really can be set to right.
Christians are not obligated to support capital punishment, and indeed should not support it. My reasons for opposing the death penalty are both philosophical and theological. Let me begin with philosophical objections, which I divide into theoretical and practical aspects, and then conclude with theological objections.
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