News and Developments 2008: Religion

A new study has been released that explores the correlations between countries’ legal, political, and religious systems and their use of the death penalty. Professors David Greenberg from New York University and Valerie West of John Jay College examined data from 193 nations to test why some countries regularly use capital punishment while others have abandoned it altogether. They found, “In part, a country’s death penalty status is linked to its general punitiveness towards criminals. Countries that imprison more convicted criminals are also more likely to kill them.” Interestingly, the data showed that “a country’s population has no significant direct or indirect effect on its death penalty status. Nor does its homicide rate. Countries with fewer political rights are more likely to have the death penalty.” The link between political rights and abolition of the death penalty was illustrated by the fact that countries with higher literacy rates and developed economies were least likely to have the death penalty. Catholicism also showed a strong influence over the use of capital punishment in the study, showing a reduction of the death penalty where there was a large presence of Catholics. Greenberg and West point out, "There are exceptions to these generalizations. Retentionist societies are not all cut from the same cloth, nor are all abolitionist societies."

May 5, 2008

HULIQ.com

The Worldwide United Methodist Church sent a message to Texas during the General Conference held in Ft. Worth, TX. The General Conference passed a resolution calling for the specific abolition of the death penalty in Texas. The United Methodist Church has had a position against the use of the death penalty for more than 50 years and reaffirmed that specific position in separate resolutions for the whole church as well.

Book Review: Change of Heart
By Jodi Picoult
Atria, 447 pp., $26.95

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