United Methodists join vigil opposing death penalty
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Bishop Ray Chamberlain |
June 28, 2006
A UMNS Feature
By Kathy L. Gilbert*
This year marks the 50th anniversary of
the United Methodist Church’s call to end executions and the 30th anniversary
of a decision by the United States Supreme Court to reinstate the death penalty
In commemoration of the 50th anniversary, the United Methodist Board of Church
and Society is resurrecting the United Methodists Against the Death Penalty
network.
Retired United Methodist Bishop Ray Chamberlain
will speak during Starvin’ for
Justice, an annual fast and vigil opposing capital punishment. The vigil will
be held in front of the United States Supreme Court June 29-July 2. The dates
commemorate the historic 1972 and 1976 Supreme Court rulings that first suspended
the death penalty and later allowed executions to resume.
“All executions are brutal,” Chamberlain said. “I don’t
know of any humane way for the state to execute someone. Does the person being
executed prefer the electric chair to being taken out to the town square and
having their head cut off?” The church stands on the side of respecting
all human life, he said.
At its 1956 General Conference, the Methodist
Church declared: “We stand
for the application of the redemptive principle to the treatment of offenders
against the law, the reform of penal and correctional methods, and to criminal
court procedures. We deplore the use of capital punishment.” (Social
Principals, 164G)
The United Methodist Church has passed resolutions opposed to the death penalty
since 1976.
“Our church comes down on the side of respect of human life,” Chamberlain
said. Calling people criminals instead of human beings is an excuse to treat
them differently, he said.
“I just don’t know that we should
take it (executions) in our hands--to take a needle and think because it
is sterile it is alright.
It hurts
me very much to see what we are doing in our country about capital punishment.”
The board passed a resolution at its 2006 spring
meeting celebrating the church’s “prophetic
statement” and the fact that the Methodist Church was one of the first
denominations in the United States to formally come out against the death penalty.
“In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus gives us a picture of the final judgment
and in it our righteousness is dependent on our treatment of the most vulnerable,
including whether or not we have visited those who are imprisoned,” said
Bill Mefford, civil and human rights director with the United Methodist Board
of Church and Society. “Our call to love those imprisoned is clear as Jesus identifies himself
among those who are incarcerated. There should be no ambivalence in our stance
on capital punishment – we as United Methodists and as the followers
of Jesus are called to advocate for the end to the death penalty,” he
said.
United Methodists Against the Death Penalty is a network of United Methodists
working and advocating against the death penalty in the United States. It has
been inactive for a while, Mefford said.
“The United Methodist Church clearly stands against capital punishment
throughout the world,” he said.
According to Amnesty International, more than
124 nations have taken steps through either law or practice to abolish the
death penalty.
Currently, the
United States, Iran, China, and Vietnam account for 97 percent of the world’s
executions.
Information on how to join United Methodists Against
the Death Penalty is available on at http://www.umc-gbcs.org.
*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville,
Tenn.
News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.
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