Interfaith Perspectives and Action Against the Death Penalty
I went into this research as an opponent of the death penalty searching for how different faith traditions and religious leaders were advocating for abolition of the death penalty to see what they were doing to enact that change in policy.
Starting with abolition to the death penalty in America, the name Sister Helen Prejean and her book Dead Man Walking were noted as influences in giving abolition a fresh face. The movie adaptation with the same name goes through the nun’s interactions with a man on death row in Louisiana, their legal fight to get a stay of execution, up to his final admittance of guilt and his execution. The overarching theme were the conversations: between Sister Prejean and Matthew Poncelet, the sister and each of the victim’s families, with Poncelet’s family, and others.
The constant dialogue exposed the tremendous amounts of pain each person who was touched by this faced, and their overwhelming desire for peace. What this “peace” means, in terms of administering justice for a crime like murder, varies from person to person, and various faith traditions have made their positions on state-sanctioned killings clear.
A significant number of national faith organizations have officially opposed the death penalty and have called on people of faith to be active in advocating for its abolition. Faith-based and -affiliated organizations across the United States have been predominately Judeo-Christian in their official members, but Muslim-Americans, Sikh-Americans, Zen Buddhists, and non-religious persons are present in these calls for abolition. Successful movements in recent years have been in Pennsylvania and Virginia, and while Texas is the chief death penalty state, there is a huge Texas interfaith group, Texas Impact, that has continued to incorporate interfaith dialogue with abolition.
All these interfaith networks cite similar statistics about how the death penalty is arbitrary, predominately affects people of color and poor people, change in public opinion, and possibilities and past incidences of executing the innocent. They also call for initiating conversations within respective religious environments and focusing on the dignity of human life and the possibility for change.
What the movie Dead Man Walking and Sister Prejean speak on is applying the death penalty to people who are truly guilty of some of those most heinous crimes and challenges the governments right to murder even the worst criminals. The alternative of life in prison without parole comes with its own concerns, specifically the humanity of solitary confinement, the mental and psychological toll of prison, and the general horrors of the American punitive justice system. However, it is still possible to abolish the death penalty in the United States when the focus returns to the sanctity of all human life.
To see the arbitrariness of death penalty convictions and to turn to a truly restorative justice model requires more interfaith dialogue and work to increase public support for its abolition. The peace we are searching for is not in more violence, but in forgiveness that only comes with difficult conversations requiring emotional labor and emphatic understanding.
brit lavergne, reflection
This first article comes after death penalty abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean visited the university and spoke with students about the dehumanization of death row inmates. What makes execution so easy to support for some is to label the perpetrator of these unspeakable crimes as “monsters” and “animals” who could never have done this if they were human. However, no matter how you try and spin it rhetorically, these are still human beings with lives and families, who are products of their environment, who have often suffered tremendous amounts of abuse, and some who are financially disadvantaged or suffer from mental illness. Sister Prejean asks the question to her audience: Should a person’s worst act define them?
Carmichael, Andy. “Good Friday: End the Death Penalty.” Interfaith Reflections, April 2, 2021.
The written piece uses Good Friday as an opportunity to reflect on the death penalty and the religiosity of state-sanctioned executions. Carmichael does not shy away from calling out Trump in more than noting his acceleration of federal executions, labeling it out of “political self-interest” to “demonstrate dominance… It fits his profile.” He lists the federal execution dates and their names, and how they were more than the last 67 years of government killings. Sister Helen Prejean is quoted to bring attention to how the death penalty has disproportionately impacted the poor, mentally ill, childhood abuse, and “the most glaring, pervasive characteristic of all, those who killed white people.” Connecting current death penalty arguments with the story of Jesus highlights an important aspect of the Jesus narrative. There is a specific reason why Jesus is murdered by a government entity in order to communicate how radical Jesus’s love truly was and the consequences of unjust institutions. The narrative, or God, could have had Jesus killed in any possible way, as he is dying for the sins of humanity regardless, and to understate the radicalness of Jesus is to remove key educational context.
While this article was not part of a message to end the death penalty, it brings in further information to discuss the injustices death row inmates face up to their last moment of life. It reminds us of the mistreatment of human dignity and the right to religious freedom in the most blatant manner. In Alabama, a Muslim man was forced to face death and his God without the religious guidance from an imam, but instead Protestant Christian chaplain. The original federal civil rights lawsuit reached the Supreme Court, where they ruled 5-4 in lifting the stay of execution because he just did not file in time. The dissenting opinion highlighted the unconstitutionality of Alabama’s policy which explicitly bars ministers of non-Christian faiths from being at the inmate’s side as Christians are allowed. The denial of guidance at the time of death that is unequivocally provided for Christian prisoners is a level of conversation that needs to be included as we talk about the death penalty, as while the fight for abolition is necessary, it may be a long road ahead, especially in the South. It is imperative in the meantime for interfaith groups to try and supply those on death row with the humanity and the religious guidance they have been denied.
This text was part of a broader book concerning religious traditions and the death penalty, with this section coming from a Muslim scholar and teacher who breaks down the perspectives of capital punishment. Dr. El Fadi’s argument is from an Islamic perspective, entrusting a state to enact the death penalty true to God’s word is problematic. There are many theological and ethical problems that arise from allowing the government to “play this hazardous and often untenable role of carrying out the Divine mandate, if one does in fact exist.” This brings back into the conversation not only from a religious and/or ethical standpoint if a state should be the ones carrying out executions regardless of guilt. Dr. El Fadi explains how in Islam, God holds the “exclusive right to forgive or punish transgressions” and is the only one who can give “clear, explicit, unambiguous and unwavering authorization” to possibly end a human life. Such a direct and definite endorsement from God would be extremely difficult to come by, and he suggests that because it is nearly impossible to receive such approval, “the act of killing someone would necessarily become an immoral and unlawful act.” This understanding of Islam and theology favors the continuity of human life, and to presume otherwise would be a dangerous game to play.
Hanh, Thich Nhat. Living Buddha, Living Christ. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 2007.
This book is where I decided on bringing the death penalty debate to forefront of this research project as Thich Nhat Hanh perfectly frames the issue in an interfaith context. Layering the teachings of Buddha with those of Jesus provides attention to the many parallels between the faith traditions. Hanh calls the death penalty for what it is, “a sign of weakness, an expression of our fear and inability to know what to do to help the situation.” Its use is to provide peace to the victims loved ones is founded on the belief that it helps them grieve and brings them peace. Nhat goes through the way of working towards peace means having a peaceful heart, and that one can obtain so by collective awareness, introspection, praying with practicing, understanding, and compassion, which leads to the ultimate goal of forgiveness. Meditation is the best place to start, as it produces “awareness in us and also in our society,” so we can find real solutions to ending cycles of violence. Hanh quotes the teachings of Jesus and relays the teachings of Buddhism that align with the same principles. A key component here is that action has to accompany prayer, a huge part of the Buddhist teaching, that is easily left out of Christian practice. One’s capacity for understanding and compassion does not simply ask God for it, but it takes great practice.
Someone who is affected by the death penalty and is commonly left out of the list is the executioner themselves. “We never ask ourselves, what is the damage that’s being done to a person when they execute, when they kill, another human being.” This opinion video focuses on Jerry Givens, an executioner and a devout Christian who fought to end capital punishment. His story is told by Abraham J. Bonowitz, a long-time abolitionist, a friend of Givens, and a Jewish person, who speaks on the importance of interfaith dialogue without even labeling it so. Bonowitz casually explains how they bonded over seeking out good barbecue together because they were both “a little pudgy.” This reminded me of the question posed in class about imagining Hitler’s favorite food while also connecting to the Matthew GoodNeighbear podcast where he spoke about coming to the table. “It doesn’t matter that we were different religions or different races or different generations. What matters is what we came together about one thing: the preservation of life and the dignity of life.” Bonowitz reflects on Givens’ work advocating for the death penalty after he spent time in prison himself, and how it was then, not after finding out someone he executed was innocent, that he had a wake-up call from God. “I have to suffer through this, not the state of Virginia, not the governor… but me, I had to suffer through this.” By providing a unique perspective on a left-out victim of state-sponsored killings and the psychological impact of being involved in administering death, this video adds another level necessary to consider when initiating conversations.
This online newspaper article brings together Christianity and conversation in the story of the father of one of the Oklahoma City bombing victims who became friends with the perpetrator’s father. Bud Welch’s daughter was against the death penalty, and after a long period of unhealthy grieving, he became committed to “carry[ing] that flag” for her. A nun named Sister Rosalyn heard him speak and suggested to Welch, a Catholic, to meet with Bill and Jennifer McVeigh, the father and sister of the Oklahoma City bomber. Welch recounts their emotional first meeting and how he “met a bigger victim of the… bombing than myself…Bill McVeigh can never say anything positive about Tim.” Welch wanted to prevent the execution, but after all the appeals were dropped, McVeigh was executed, and “there was nothing about that process that brought me any peace.” He also notes the ways McVeigh suffered from PTSD as a former soldier and he became more or less radicalized in an anti-government stance that pushed him to his crimes. His extraordinary capacity for forgiveness and his work with Amnesty International has helped other victims’ families who once disagreed, find peace in forgiveness, rather than the execution.
This open letter essentially by the Soto Zen Buddhist Association summarizes the Zen Buddhist tradition and cites how “every version of the Buddha’s ethical precepts begin with this principle: DO Not Kill.” The great spiritual teachers of human history, especially the Buddha, have taught about how life is sacred, and violence begets more violence. The Buddhist belief in karma and the logic of cause and effect “are inescapable even when you dress them in the emperor or president’s clothes of punitive and restorative justice.” This call for abolition continues the themes of building a new justice system based on love and redemption and reiterates the faith traditions’ beliefs of rejecting violence. The group also quotes Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh in his version of the First Precent, writing: “I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any killing in the world, in my thinking and in my way of life.” As straightforward as this may sound, it requires intentional action and works to implement lasting change in this country.
This Pew Research poll and analysis updates the institute’s 2009 report on the official positions of religious groups on capital punishment. The religious groups in the country that oppose it include Buddhism, Judaism, the American Baptist, Catholic, Episcopal, Evangelical Lutheran, Presbyterian, and United Methodist Churches; the Unitarian Universalist Association, and the United Church of Christ. To note here about Judaism and opposition, the Reform and Conservative Jewish movements are opposed while the Orthodox Union has called for a moratorium. In the Catholic Church, the Catechism allows for the possibility of the death penalty, but Pope Francis and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops oppose it. As for traditions with no official position, the Assemblies of God, the Mormons, Hinduism, and the National Baptist convention have either yet to make an official statement. For the religious groups in favor of the death penalty, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Southern Baptist Conviction, have found that capital punishment is in line with their scriptures. The report includes Islam as in favor of the death penalty but notes how “many Islamic courts around the world use the death penalty, some American Muslim groups oppose it” including the Council om American-Islamic Relations which has called for a moratorium. This adds to the conversation a practitioner of Islam’s interpretation of the death penalty, as well as a Muslim-American perspective, on the Islamic countries’ application of capital punishment.
Other Christian Perspectives and Articles:
Copenhaver Jr., Ph.D., John D. “A Christian Case for Abolition of the Death Penalty.” Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 30, 2021. https://richmond.com/opinion/columnists/john-d-copenhaver-jr-column-a-christian-case-for-abolition-of-the-death-penalty/article_4ccfcfc5-ca27-5350-a0e7-bc4f7ad148e1.html?fbclid=IwAR3AOGkMe2wwiD-RSdYSUOkLTmyUfgkU7c-c0OFk1GsoGZRbNkADOlG9XQs.
Prejean, Sister Helen. “Trump Is Rushing to Execute Inmates. We Must Raise Our Voices in Protest.” The Washington Post, December 3, 2020, sec. Opinions. Accessed May 2, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/03/sister-helen-prejean-trump-executions/?fbclid=IwAR25V6Tml4q1SMvyUkek5R3iCT7niTWA22Z6kfCQsGqR-6P3a-VXYAaMa3s.
This Baptist online publication article draws attention to the group of African American pastors who held an online press conference with the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. These ministers urged their state legislators and the governor to abolish the death penalty and replace the sentence with life in prison without parole, including for current death row inmates. Since this press conference and article, the governor of Virginia has signed it into law, this becoming the first former Confederate state to do so. The ministers focused on the racial injustice aspect, declining public opinion, and theological reasons such as redemption and the value of human life despite conduct.
Interfaith work across the country for death penalty abolition has largely been led by Christian faith groups, unsurprisingly not because other religions are not supporters, but just sheer numbers. This Catholic news online platform covers leading U.S. bishops who called on Trump to stop the federal executions that were scheduled during the season of Advent. The archbishops issued a statement, citing Mass, “that the Lord ‘is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance’ (2 Pt. 3:9).” Repentance plays a huge part in Catholicism and broader Christianity, but also in Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and the Hawaiian tradition practice of ho’oponopono. The Advent in Christianity, and Christmas, season commemorates the birth of Jesus and the Second Coming, but some of the practices that come with the season include fasting, performing rites, and festivities can be seen in many faith traditions. The connections religions have to holidays and the narratives of their prophets and divinities stir up emotions, and in this case, those emotions were channeled by the bishops to recognize “God’s unmerited gift of self-giving love.”
The coalition under the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights brought together more than 82 national organizations to implore President Biden to adhere to his promises of equality and justice by ending the death penalty. Recognizing the Trump administration’s rush to execute and the racial and economic oppression that plagues the U.S. criminal legal system, the signatories outline their strong suggestions to Biden. There are many things Biden can implement immediately without Congress that do more than reimplementing the moratorium. The calls for federal policies that “recognize, reflect, and respect the dignity, humanity, and rights of all individuals” are echoed by faith- and non-faith based organizations that concern persons of color, people with mental illness and disabilities, civil rights groups, legal advocates, and even the Church of Scientology hoped in on this one. Specific state abolition groups from around the country are a part of this list showing the growing numbers around the country, including the deep South. The focus on rehabilitation and redemption is a huge component of this letter, and it also highlights the need for investments in education and the general well-being of all persons. By framing this issue as a human rights issue that Biden campaigned on and having the numbers behind it, this letter reflects the growing interfaith cooperation for abolition that has recently taken off in America.
This article is written by the president of United Muslims of American Interfaith Alliance in San Francisco, and it was published in a number of publications around the Bay Area to reflect on the death penalty. Hai credits his Catholic friends in the interfaith community for taking the lead on organizing interfaith leaders to think about ending the death penalty. He speaks of a conference a month before with Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, and Zoroastrian people participating in interfaith dialogue concerning the “ungodliness” of the death penalty. They were informed by African American Baptist congregations and the poor Latinx communities in the U.S. as the two more disproportionately affected minority groups. The overarching faith theme of believing that life is sacred flows through these aforementioned faith traditions. Hai concludes that “the state has no authority to impose the death penalty if the aggrieved party takes compensation and forgives the criminal” as the state is subservient to the people. Hai also explains that the Prophet of Islam “gave full authority to the aggrieved party to decide what punishment should be given to those who have inflicted the crime,” thus the victim’s family forgiving the perpetrator is strongly encouraged by Islam as past of the reformative process. Murder victims’ families sometimes give their opinion on whether they want them to receive life or death, and I do not believe the emotional turmoil of grieving allows for a receptive mind to be compassionate to the person who caused it. While there are cases of unapologetic criminals or those who never admit to any guilt, I believe that through a process of therapy or spiritual advisement, prisoners and their victims could find a way to peace through forgiveness. However, the justice system is built on an ideology founded on punishment.
This podcast includes an interview with Sister Helen Prejean as well as Robert Jeffress, a Southern Baptist minister who is a strong advocate for use of the death penalty. Sister Prejean first goes through her book Dead Man Walking along with the process of creating the movie adaptation. Susan Sarandon who plays her in the movie read her book about a year after it was originally published and the next year they were making the movie. Sister Prejean speaks on how writing the book was a way to process emotionally and spiritually the consequences of the death penalty. Her perspective reflects the message Jesus in seeing how “you can meet human beings, who have done unspeakable acts, and see that everybody is more than the worst thing they’ve ever done.” This is her interpretation of what the message of Jesus, the Gospel, and Christianity is about. The Dallas preacher holds that the death penalty reflects the sanctity of human life, as “whoever takes it, has to pay the ultimate price.” His stance reflects the idea that Christianity has always supported the death penalty and the idea that the secular government authority on Earth mirrors the will of God. These different theological arguments concerning the death penalty reveal just how easy the Bible, and other religious texts like the Torah or the Qu’ran, can be quoted out of context to defend certain positions.
Robbins, Tim. Dead Man Walking. Crime Drama. Gramercy Pictures, 1995.
I am so glad I watched this movie as part of my research because it helped me reframe the research around the importance and the real impact of empathy and understanding through hard conversations. Sister Helen Prejean wrote the book the movie is based on after ministering two death row inmates, and the movie combines them into the character Matthew Poncelet as Sister Prejean tries to commute his execution. Sister Prejean is an overtly compassionate individual working through the difficulties of helping a death row inmate in the south who is not exactly the most repentant, empathetic individual, asking him after he proclaimed racist views, why he was making it “so hard to help you?” This touches on a huge part of death penalty abolition work that is difficult, which challenges a deep-rooted belief that they should deserve to die. When Sister Prejean meets with the parents of the victims, the horrific details of his and his accomplices (whose life sentence but a greater role in the murders show the arbitrariness of the death penalty) crimes are revealed. The hatred the parents hold for Poncelet and his anger towards them for pushing for his execution has blinded them to the repetitive ironies in their reasoning that Sister Prejean tries to address with them with varying success. In the end, Poncelet reaches an emotional breakthrough by admitting to his part in murdering the son and assaulting the daughter; his last words are apologizing to the son’s father for “taking your son away from you” and asking for his forgiveness, and to the daughter’s parents “I hope my death gives you some relief.” As the film depicts his death by lethal injection, the scenes of the murders are juxtaposed, forcing the viewer to rationalize the journey of learning this murderer’s truth with his execution. Sister Prejean’s ability to provide this man with “the face of love for [him]” leading up to and at his time of death is emotional labor that she cites as being motivated by what Jesus would do.
As one of the board members of the Virginia Interfaith Center, Rev. Cook supports abolishing the death penalty and explains in this news interview the group’s actions and reasons when pushing for legislative change. Rev. Cook explains how the group takes the issue not just from a racial justice lens, but from a moral perspective that believes in human dignity and redemption. She also outlines several ways the group has built support for ending the death penalty in the state including letter signing, press conferences, conversations, and prayer vigils. Their goal is to educate the public on the racist history of the death penalty in the state and the country, and through prayer and subsequent action, they seek guidance from a higher power for help in this work. This interview reflects the need for action and building numbers in support through comprehensive education. The group was able to get over 400 signatories to letter to the legislators in support of abolishing the death penalty. The display of unity and change in public perception in a former Confederate state, and the one responsible for a significant portion of the country’s executions, shows how powerful the belief in the sanctity of human life if when the right work is put in.
Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. Last modified February 5, 2021.
This non-partisan coalition network of hundreds of different faith communities in the Commonwealth of Virginia worked to successfully abolish the death penalty in the state. They “work with Virginians of all faiths including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists, people who are “spiritual, not religious” and people of goodwill,” by focusing on issues of economic, racial, social, and environmental injustice. Their mission statement reflects this and says the coalition “engages people of faith and goodwill in advocating… through education, prayer, and action.” The idea of prayer not being sufficient without action is reflected in many interfaith and faith-based abolition group’s reasons for their work. By championing diversity not only in their membership but their board and staff as well, the Virginia Interfaith Center has facilitated the education of the state’s people to inform them of Virginia’s broken death penalty system.
“Capital Punishment.” National Association of Evangelicals. Last modified 2015. https://www.nae.net/capital-punishment-2/.
“Civic | Interfaith | Social Justice Ministries.” Trinity Cathedral. Accessed May 2, 2021. https://trinitycleveland.org/serve/civic-interfaith-social-justice/#death-penalty.
“Death Penalty.” Equal Justice Initiative. Last modified 2021. https://eji.org/issues/death-penalty/.
Faith Leaders Meet to Speak against Death Penalty. YouTube. Omaha, Nebraska: KETV NewsWatch 7, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et580u5XnZ4.
“Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.” https://www.keywiki.org/Illinois_Coalition_to_Abolish_the_Death_Penalty.
“Interfaith Action for Human Rights.” https://www.interfaithactionhr.org.
“Texas Impact Legislative Platform 2021-2022.” Texas Impact, 2021.
“Wyoming Campaign to End the Death Penalty 2021.” Wyoming Interfaith Network. Accessed May 3, 2021.
I want to summarize the work of these interfaith groups and their work abolishing the death penalty in the U.S. across the country and their tactics to promoting change, most of which concern the promotion of education and conversations. First, is the Evangelical perspective of abolition, but that simple “moral revulsion or distaste” for it is not sufficient enough, so they make the theological case against the death penalty and whether biblical standards of justice are hard in this society. Since human systems are not infallible, resources need to be moved away from pursuing the death penalty and calls on Evangelicals to unite against reforming the criminal justice system. The next source comes from the Trinity Cathedral in Ohio and they have interfaith and social justice ministries within their congregation. One is specifically an anti-death penalty group that advocated for the state’s repeal by writing letters to death row inmates, promoting petitions, organizing vigils, and sponsoring community forums on the death penalty. Third, is an informational branch of the Equal Justice Initiative out of Alabama working towards reforming the criminal justice system and ending the death penalty. There was so much information here about how the death penalty is arbitrary, issues of the inadequate council, how it affects those with intellectual disabilities and mental illnesses, racial bias in prosecution and sentences, and the problem of juveniles on death row. The Interfaith Action for Human Rights group is a multi-faith coalition of people in Maryland, DC, and Virginia who educate and advocate for systems that focus on rehabilitation and reentry rather than punitive practices. IAHR focuses on interfaith-based action to end prison and jail brutality, limiting solitary confinement lengths and elimination, and of course the death penalty. Texas Impact and the Texas Interfaith Center for Public Policy work together to bring interfaith work to Texas politics and provide theologically grounded analysis through research and education. The TICPP is the education arm of the interfaith legislative network of Texas Impact, which is comprised of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish denominational bodies, local congregations, interfaith networks, and thousands of people of faith in the state. Their legislative platform includes anti-discrimination and addresses the systemic racism that impacts prisoners, therefore advocates for the end of the death penalty in Texas and in the meantime doing everything to protect death row inmates’ rights, including being provided with a chaplain from the condemned persons faith. Lastly is the Wyoming anti-death penalty campaign of interfaith groups who are working within the state to repeal the death penalty pointing to its inaccuracy and infallibility, and includes many denominations of Christianity. “Across our various traditions, there are many differences. However, all of our traditions teach us to honor the sacredness of human life and the human capacity for change… We believe that our justice system should be both humane and restorative, and the death penalty simply does not meet these standards.”
BRIT LAVERGNE 