Capital punishment: A Christian response?

Every Sunday as I enter my church, I am greeted by a rendering of the crucified Christ upon the cross — a common image in many churches, in all its disturbing glory.

The cross upon which Christ was crucified is the dominant image of, for and about Christianity.

The cross and the crucifixion have several levels of meaning for Christians. On the most basic level, the image of the crucified Christ is an abject symbol of man's inhumanity to man, as well as the horrific outcome of capital punishment. A man sentenced to death and nailed to a cross for a slow, painful, public death.

According to Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, capital punishment is on the decline across the country, with four states (New York, New Jersey, New Mexico and Illinois) recently opting for alternatives to the death penalty. In stark contrast to that trend, there are two proposed bills before the current session of the Virginia General Assembly that seek to expand the use of the death penalty in the commonwealth by making accessories to killings eligible. The new bills are Senate Bill 58, introduced by Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, and House Bill 389, introduced by Del. C. Todd Gilbert.

Virginia already holds the distinction of being second only to Texas in the use of capital punishment, and now there are those who want to expand it.

Last spring, my church, the Church of the Holy Comforter (Episcopal), hosted a series of programs considering capital punishment from a Christian perspective. These programs featured Mark Osler, from the University of St. Thomas Law School, and Jeanne Bishop, a Cook County, Ill., public defender and a member of Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights. On Palm Sunday weekend Mark and Jeanne staged the sentencing phase of the Trial of Christ, with former Virginia Attorney General William Broaddus presiding. The trial was based on Mark's book, "Jesus on Death Row."

As the General Assembly debates these proposed bills, Mark and Jeanne will continue their work. They will be presenting the Trial of Christ around the country, ranging from Boston to Oklahoma City. In Oklahoma City they will stage the trial at Crossings Community Church, one of the largest nondenominational churches in the country. Oklahoma City is also where, in 1995, the now-executed Timothy McVeigh bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

Capital punishment is a highly provocative, enormously difficult issue, and particularly so when the associated crimes are so terribly heinous. A natural human response to such crimes is to seek retribution. The people of Oklahoma City know this; Jeanne Bishop also knows this after the murder of her sister and her brother-in-law in 1991.

As I sit in church on Sundays and ponder an unadorned cross above the High Altar, I wonder how Christ might call to us from the cross to respond to such crimes. I also wonder, along with all the traditional theology associated with the cross, if there is additional significance for us to consider. Capital punishment never restores the life of a victim, it never undoes a crime, and it runs the risk of creating new victims. As Mark and Jeanne have suggested, John 8:3-7 may shed some light on this, as Christ commands us, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone."

Time and again, Christ confounds us by calling us to respond in ways that are contrary to our human instincts and contrary to our sense of worldly justice. May the General Assembly consider the crucified Christ and John 8:3-7 as they debate Senate Bill 58 and House Bill 389.