News and Developments 2007: Religion

PUBLIC OPINION: Support for Death Penalty Weak Among Blacks and Hispanics

Posted: December 22, 2007
in

According to new polling analysis from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, support for the death penalty among the general public has dropped to 62% (August 2007), down from a high of 80% support in the mid-1990s.  Among black respondents, 51% opposed the death penalty and only 40% were in favor.  Hispanics were about evenly split with 48% in favor of the death penalty and 47% opposed.  Eighty-two (82%) percent of conservative Republicans support the death penalty, but only 41% of liberal Democrats.  Among religious groups, white evangelical Protestants had the highest support--74%.

Jews join struggle against NJ death penalty

Posted: December 14, 2007
in

by Michal Lando
December 13, 2007
Jerusalem Post

New Jersey is on its way to becoming the first state to repeal the death penalty since 1976, when the US Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment, and Jews are using tradition to weigh in on the process.

On Monday, a bill to replace the death penalty with life in prison with no parole was approved by the New Jersey Senate, largely seen as the greatest obstacle to repeal. State legislators expect the Democrat-controlled General Assembly, which votes Thursday, to approve the measure as well, almost guaranteeing an end to the death penalty in the state's judicial system.

The vote is the result of a commission charged in 2006 by the New Jersey legislature with studying all aspects of the death penalty as currently administered in the state. The New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission, which looked at deterrence, accuracy and financial costs among a number of other death penalty-related issues, found that the system was ineffective and recommended that it be replaced with life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Death Penalty Tests a Church as It Mourns

Posted: November 28, 2007
in

By ALISON LEIGH COWAN October 28, 2007
New York Times

CHESHIRE, Conn., Oct. 25 — The United Methodist Church here is the kind of politically active place where parishioners take to the pulpit to discuss poverty in El Salvador and refugees living in Meriden. But few issues engage its passions as much as the death penalty.

The last three pastors were opponents of capital punishment. Church-sponsored adult education classes promote the idea of “restorative justice,” advocating rehabilitation over punishment. Two years ago, congregants attended midnight vigils outside the prison where Connecticut executed a prisoner for the first time in 45 years.

So it might have been expected that United Methodist congregants would speak out forcefully when a brutal triple murder here in July led to tough new policies against violent criminals across the state and a pledge from prosecutors to seek capital punishment against the defendants.

RIGHTS-INDIA: Sikhs Worldwide Campaign for Death Penalty Abolition

Posted: November 28, 2007
in

By Sujoy Dhar
Oct 29, 2007
IPS

BRUSSELS - On March 23, 1931, an Indian Sikh named Bhagat Singh attained martyrdom when he was hanged by the British for his role in the militant freedom struggle against the colonial rulers.

About 75 years later, Professor Jagmohan Singh, a nephew of the liberation hero, preaches peace and mercy as he joins a worldwide campaign, especially in Europe, by his Sikh community against death penalty.

The life and work of Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and his death by hanging in Lahore (now Pakistan) at the hands of British imperialism has been a great saga of patriotism for generations of Indians.

But while Bhagat Singh trod a path of violence to achieve freedom, his Sikh community, though known as a courageous warrior race, today believes more in the non-violence preaching of Mahatma Gandhi, the man who brought India independence from British rule by peaceful non-cooperation. Gandhi was vocal against death penalty, saying: "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

Religious leaders plead to end death penalty in N.J.

Posted: November 28, 2007
in

By BOB MAKIN
STAFF WRITER
November 28, 2007
Home News Tribune

TRENTON — More than 550 New Jersey religious leaders — including 135 from Middlesex, Somerset, Union and Hunterdon counties — are calling on state lawmakers to abolish the death penalty.

The religious leaders from varying faiths made their pleas in two letters delivered Tuesday to all 120 legislators and Gov. Jon S. Corzine. They say the death penalty fails the state legally, morally and economically.

One letter, signed by more than 500 leaders from various faiths, was delivered and organized by New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. The other was signed by the state's five Roman Catholic bishops, three auxiliary bishops and two Byzantine Catholic bishops and delivered by the New Jersey Catholic Conference.

"We write to you with the sound moral backing of official positions taken by the leadership bodies of our various denominations and faiths," the larger petition said. "We wish to be clear, however, that our concerns are secular and pragmatic, just as much as they are rooted in our religious traditions. The death penalty is not in the best interests of our state, our justice system, or the safety of our people."

IN THEORY: Opinions on the death penalty

Posted: June 20, 2007
in

June 17, 2007
The Daily Pilot

Many academics in recent years have been arguing that their studies prove the death penalty deters murder. The various studies show that between 3 and 18 lives could be saved by executing a convicted killer. Critics question the data, saying that the experts made mistakes in their methodology. What do you think of this recent data? Has it affected your position on the issue?

Judaism has always believed in capital punishment based upon Biblical Law.

A man must stand trial according to due process of law. You shall not murder is the sixth of the Ten Commandments. It is followed by another of God's Decrees that "if you shed the blood of your brother, then your blood shall be shed in its place."