Ladies and Gentlemen, regardless of our various positions on the death penalty, two colossal errors in this archdiocesan missive must be made clear. 

 

Firstly, Mr. Couch states that “killing is wrong, no matter who does it”.  Not true.  Not all homicide is murder.  “Murder” is defined as the “unjust taking of innocent human life”.  That’s basic moral theology, close to 2000 years old.  No amount of our supposedly “kinder, gentler” babbling will change that.  Yes, Our Lord does have ultimate say over life and death, but Scripture and Tradition do make clear that Our Lord does delegate authority to the state to punish and contain crime by use of the death penalty.  Whether or not such penalty is warranted in specific cases can be debated, but to claim that the state has no such authority and thus commits wrong is simply incorrect and a misrepresentation of Church Teaching and Our Lord Himself.

 

The second error has to do with proportion, which is sorely lacking in the Church’s crusade against the death penalty.  Nowhere in this alert do I see the barest mention of the 95-100 babies who die in Maryland EVERY DAY from abortion.  Would that we would see commensurate concern for the lives of these little ones.  Help me out here, but in the alert below, I see nary a peep regarding those little ones.  Mr. Couch mentions that the execution will happen in a week. Well, between now and then about 700 babies will die in Maryland, and over 28,000 nationwide.  Where is the exhortation for the commuting of THEIR death sentences?

 

Pardon my cynicism, but I do see some politically-correct pandering here!

 

 

 

 

Call Today: Stop the Execution   Call Today: Stop the Execution Take Action! Wesley Baker scheduled to die   Today, Tuesday November 29th, is the statewide call in day to prevent the execution of Wesley Baker.  Baker is scheduled to be executed the week of December 5th. Tell Governor Ehrlich and Lieutenant Governor Steele to commute Wesley Baker’s sentence to life without parole. Tell them killing is wrong, no matter who does it. Spread this message widely.  Find ten people to pass this message on to! Two weeks ago, on November 15, the U.S. bishops unanimously approved a statement that reaffirms their opposition to the death penalty. Larry    Lawrence E. Couch Legislative Policy Coordinator Office of Justice and Service Archdiocese of Washington 301-853-5343