When the world gets polarized into Republican and Democrat, black and white, right and wrong, then an issue like Capital Punishment becomes one of the most divisive of topics.
Scripture is plain about the propriety of capital punishment. God instituted the death penalty according to Genesis 9:6. And the death penalty was upheld in the New Testament.
Okay, so I’ve made half of you mad just by pointing out that Scripture holds the death penalty as one of the standards of justice. Unfortunately, that alone doesn’t make Hussein’s death ‘right.’
The death penalty is wrong when it is carried out as a means of revenge or as a release of hatred, venom, and spite. This brings me to the recent execution of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein. I am, in no way, defending the man or his actions. Hussein was a brutal dictator found guilty of atrocities against humanity. According to the court of law, the judicial code of Iraq, and my own religious tenets, his execution was just.
However, the fact that so many people participated in his execution with rejoicing and celebration for his death makes it a horrible chapter in the history of the world. If there be any rejoicing, it should be that the crimes have been punished. If there be any celebration, it should be that the terror he created has been punished.
Am I calling for grace? Absolutely. Why? Because grace and forgiveness do not necessarily mean a pardon in the criminal justice system. Forgiving even our enemies is mandated by the example and teaching of Jesus Christ. Freeing murderers, rapists, and terrorists is not mandated. Justice and forgiveness don’t have to be at odds.
A pastor’s son was murdered several years ago. The pastor was noted in the news, or on a news magazine a la 60 Minutes, for his open forgiveness of his son’s murderer. He offered him forgiveness and then offered him accountability. When his sentence had been served, he helped him to get his life in order. Why? I remember him saying something about, “He owed me a life. So I proposed that he offer his life, well-lived from this point forward.” I wish I could find that reference. The story is powerful.
My point is this: Let the punishment stand. But let us be Christ-like in our forgiving and in our compassion.
Saddam’s death is a triumph for the judicial system–or at least, it could have been. When a friend sent me an e-mail rejoicing that Saddam had been executed, I replied with his own words from a previous e-mail. When the soldiers at Abu Ghraib were arrested, the media carried several images of Islamic radicals dancing and celebrating. My friend’s e-mail questioned their motivation.
And I questioned his. He responded with an apology, which wasn’t required, but I am glad he reconsidered. He closed his e-mail with, “If we celebrate and dance in the streets at Saddam’s death, we’re just as wrong as those who danced in the streets in Palestine when the World Trade Center fell.”
I don’t know if we are just as wrong, since Saddam wasn’t exactly an innocent man. However, a sin is a sin, and guilt is universal in its burden.
Let me hasten to add my personal struggle: Though I can set about the task of forgiving Saddam Hussein, despite the fact that he never asked for it, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to convince my human flesh to forgive his acts of atrocity. Thank God for the strength of Christ, which allows me to say, “May he rest in peace, and may God have mercy on his soul.” Because he deserves it?
No. I say it because none of us deserve it, yet God chooses to in any event. Thanks be to God.
EDIT: You might want to check out this well written post over at Brutally Honest. Rick has done a great job with capturing the nasty backstory of the execution. Brutally Honest
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