The Death Penalty Information Center has recent­ly updat­ed its infor­ma­tion pack­et enti­tled Death Penalty Resources for Communities of Faith.” This pack­et was ini­tial­ly devel­oped to help a wide spec­trum of reli­gious groups address the death penal­ty by pro­vid­ing infor­ma­tion, dis­cus­sion ques­tions, and mul­ti-media resources. These mate­ri­als offer a frame­work use­ful for any dis­cus­sion of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment and do not direct­ly involve reli­gious or moral instruc­tions. Each pack­et con­tains a CD with state­ments on the death penal­ty from var­i­ous reli­gious denom­i­na­tions, death penal­ty fact sheets in English and Spanish, and answers to ques­tions about the death penal­ty. It also includes video clips, bul­letin inserts, and dis­cus­sion guides on four key death penal­ty issues: Innocence, Race, Victims and Costs.

The pack­et has been praised by such reli­gious lead­ers as Bill Mefford of the United Methodist Church, Rabbi Leonard Beerman, and Sister Helen Prejean, who said, The death penal­ty is one of the most crit­i­cal issues of our time, and peo­ple of all faiths should con­tribute to the dia­logue. The Death Penalty Information Center has ren­dered a won­der­ful ser­vice by offer­ing reli­gious lead­ers the key tools they need for rais­ing this issue with their con­gre­ga­tions.”

(DPIC-Posted Feb. 2, 2010). For infor­ma­tion on obtain­ing copies of this impor­tant resource, please con­tact religious@​deathpenaltyinfo.​org. See also Religion.

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