Capital Punishment - Speech
Speech on Capital Punishment 2018
You know, in today’s culture, one would think the Catholic church would be opposed to the death penalty.
Pope Francis seems pretty opposed to it.
But stunningly, the church has not been opposed to the death penalty. I wondered why not.
Can’t the Pope just snap his fingers and make it happen?
Bam! And capital punishment is now an evil act!
Well no, he can’t do that, not really, and so I did a little digging to find out why.
Turns out that the church has strict guidelines in regard to the creation of doctrine.
The churches position needs to be:
theologically consistent with the teachings of Jesus
in consideration of past doctrinal contributions
and in line with all past theological arguments – from scripture and tradition
The church can’t just change its ethical stance on a whim.
The church has to stick to its moral code.
And somehow, the churches moral code doesn’t oppose the death penalty.
How does that work?
Let’s dive into scriptural comprehension and translation.
Usually, we quote the 5th Catholic Commandment to combat the death penalty.
However, this is probably the least well understood of the Ten Commandments, the reason being that the Hebrew original doesn’t say, “Do not kill” – harag (הָרַג) in Hebrew.
It says, “Do not murder” – ratzach (רָצַח).
The difference is huge.
Kill refers to the taking of any life, human or animal, deliberate or accidental, legal or illegal, moral or immoral.
Murder can only mean one thing: the illegal or immoral taking of a human life.
Intent is critical.
There is moral killing in self-defence or against an aggressor, and there is immoral killing – known as murder.
Can’t really oppose the death penalty from that route.
Ok, then, what about the churches top source?
The person upon whom all Christian theology hangs? What does Jesus say?
Well… nothing. He makes little reference to it.
If anything, the right of state to execute for crimes seems to be accepted and acknowledged.
When discussing His fate with Pontius Pilate, on the verge of His own execution, He acknowledges that, not only does Pilate have the authority to execute Him, but that Pilate “would not have that authority if it were not given from above.”
God gave Pilate the authority to carry out a sentence of death.
No passage in the New Testament opposes the death penalty, and doctrine cannot be determined by omission.
So, Pope Francis dances around it.
Jesus didn’t address every individual issue that might arise, so He left His apostles, particularly Peter, with the authority to deal with issues as He might have.
This establishes the role of tradition.
Jesus wasn’t very direct about the death penalty, so it’s up to the Popes to figure it out.
A trend of Popes agreeing with the death penalty seems to continue all throughout history.
And the criminal criteria seems to increase in extremity.
Today, only the worst murderers get considered for capital punishment.
People don’t seem to like the idea of a death penalty anymore. Pope Francis especially.
He seems to stress the importance of mercy and patience, over justice and punishment.
It’s becoming more and more apparent that the Pope is trying incredibly hard to get as close to opposing capital punishment as possible, without clashing against Jesus and the previous Popes.
Instead of saying that the church actually opposes capital punishment, he’s trying to create a case on behalf of world leaders that discourages the practice.
He can’t oppose the death penalty through commandment, or Jesus, or past doctrine.
So, he’s taking the “human dignity” route. Unfortunately, this quickly backfired.
Him stating, last week, that “the death penalty is inadmissible” because it attacks the “dignity of the person,” contradicted Pope Pius XII who, 66 years earlier, said that capital punishment does not violate the right to life because “By his crime, he has already disposed himself of his right to life.”
It’s a difficult place to be.
People almost expect the church to keep up to date with the modern world.
Weirdly enough, the church isn’t as progressive and fickle as one would like to think.
The church has to be flexible, yet durable, with Jesus as its cornerstone.
So, regarding the death penalty, the question is: will the church mirror culture or Christ?
Thank you.
[Speak For Faith 2018 - Catholic Schools Public Speaking Competition SCRIPT]