God’s Grace, the Death Penalty and the Mentally Deficient

[newton3005]

The title of this OP piece is a mouthful, is it not? But can all three elements be intertwined in one individual? At least two out of three have known to be, and at least in the U.S. the last two can be an issue facing a government under God concerning an individual.

The U.S., which had been regarded as a beacon of light for much of the rest of the world, has proclaimed itself to be a nation under God, as stated in its Pledge of Allegiance. And as the U.S. is a nation under God, then one may reasonably expect that its governing authorities, who’ve been elected by its people, are an extension of God as stated in Romans 13:1. And the God that Romans 13:1 refers to, is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and us.

From the Book of Genesis on, from Genesis 9:6, God has decreed that those who shed the blood of man shall have their own blood shed. And in the Book of Exodus, God narrows those shedding the blood of others down to those who commit murder, meaning shedding the blood of another out of a pre-meditated act aimed specifically at that person for reasons other than self-defense. I guess, notwithstanding Proverbs 3:5, God must have taken into account that wars of necessity take place between those whose faith is in Him, and those whose faith lies elsewhere.

But God must have also been cognizant that as none of us are perfect, which results in mistakes being made, he has tempered the use of the death penalty to cases where the condemned person truly murdered someone else. And what is the truth? As my daughter once said when she was four years old, perhaps by a sudden Grace of God, perhaps, the truth is what is in your eyes. And that can be carried further to the truth being what is in your eyes with no interference from your mind, which, as it is beyond understanding, is perfectly capable of wreaking havoc on the truth, and therefore on what your eyes see. So, Deuteronomy 17:6 says, “On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.” This suggests a consensus must be arrived at between at least two people as to the person’s guilt, based on the evidence. No one individual can take it upon himself to kill someone because s/he believes that someone killed someone else. And, all facts must be taken into account that would lead people under God to believe that the evidence is prevailing in all those facts, whether for, against and indifferent, when taken as a whole.

And in the U.S. legal system, which is a reflection of its government under God, it has arisen that the condemned person should know why they are being put to death and should have all their facilities upon going to their place of death. One reason for this is so the person can ask God for forgiveness, in the hope that God may confer His Grace on them. This can be seen as having its roots in Luke 23:42-43 in which one of the condemned men on the cross alongside Jesus says “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” And Jesus says to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” So, if a person is not in a condition to understand what is about to happen to them, how can he ask God for forgiveness, for the possibility of joining Jesus in “paradise”? Are the people who will put that individual to death, then, not guilty of sin for putting the person to death with no chance to ask God for forgiveness?

And what of the mentally deficient who in their limited capacity cannot ask God for forgiveness because the individual doesn’t have the capacity to understand why he is being put to death, and that same limited capacity renders him unable to even consider asking God for forgiveness? Is it not a sin, then, to put that person to death?

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

BIG (LIGHT AND DARK) DIFFERENCE from this >>>

The U.S., which had been regarded as a beacon of light for much of the rest of the world, has proclaimed itself to be a nation under God, as stated in its Pledge of Allegiance.

to this false statement >>>>

. And as the U.S. is a nation under God,

So, then, no to this >>>>

then one may reasonably expect that its governing authorities, who’ve been elected by its people, are an extension of God as stated in Romans 13:1. And the God that Romans 13:1 refers to, is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and us.

 

[newton3005]

BIG (LIGHT AND DARK) DIFFERENCE from this >>> etc.


to this false statement >>>> etc.

So, then, no to this >>>>then one may reasonably expect that its governing authorities, who’ve been elected by its people, are an extension of God as stated in Romans 13:1. And the God that Romans 13:1 refers to, is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and us.

Yeshuaslavejeff, I feel your pain. IF the U.S. was as I described it in my OP, then at least in the U.S. my OP would matter. Alas, as you've stated doesn't appear that any of my statements you quoted really apply to the U.S., ergo, the Christian leaders in the U.S. who favor executing someone without due process, which, for a nation under God would mean due process under God, are not really Christians then, are they? Because the Bible says that Christians can't pick and choose the parts of the Bible they'll live by; they have to live by all of it.