Entries tagged with “Religious”
Facts & Research
Religion
,New Voices
,Dec 05, 2018
DPIC PODCAST: The New Catholic Teaching on the Death Penalty and Human Dignity
In August 2018, Pope Francis promulgated a new Catholic Catechism that deemed the death penalty “inadmissible” in all cases and committed the Church to working to abolish capital punishment worldwide. Cardinal Blase Cupich, the ninth Bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago, joined DPIC Executive Director Robert Dunham on the latest episode of the podcast Discussions with DPIC, to explore the implications of the new teachings and how they fit into the…
Facts & Research
Religion
,New Voices
,Aug 14, 2017
NEW VOICES: More Than 100 Rabbis Issue Statement Calling for End to the “Cruel Practice” of Capital Punishment
A group of more than 100 rabbis from multiple Jewish denominations have issued a statement expressing their opposition to the use of the death penalty in the United States. The statement, posted by Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz (pictured) in Forward.com’s Scribe—a curated contributor network of Jewish thought — called for an end to the “cruel practice” of capital punishment and “for the beginning of a new paradigm of fair, equitable restorative justice.” The rabbis said that “[a]s Jews…
Policy Issues
Innocence
,Clemency
,New Voices
,Apr 14, 2017
With Looming Execution and Serious Innocence Concerns, Calls Mount for Virginia to Grant Clemency to Ivan Teleguz
Amid mounting concerns that Virginia may execute an innocent man on April 25, a diverse group of religious, political, and business leaders are calling on Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe to grant clemency to Ivan Teleguz (pictured). Their pleas for clemency stress that Teleguz was convicted based upon highly unreliable testimony and sentenced to death based upon false testimony that he had been involved in a fabricated Pennsylvania murder…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Mar 21, 2017
Harper’s Magazine Profiles Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty
A feature story in the March issue of Harper’s Magazine explores the growing conservative movement against the death penalty, with a focus on the group Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty and its national advocacy coordinator, Marc Hyden (pictured). Hyden, who previously worked on Republican campaigns and was a field representative for the NRA, explained the genesis of his views against the death penalty. His opposition to the death penalty came…
Policy Issues
Mental Illness
,Clemency
,New Voices
,Jan 13, 2017
Mental Health Professionals, Religious Leaders Join Ricky Gray’s Plea for Clemency
Ricky Gray (pictured), who is scheduled to be executed on January 18, is seeking clemency from Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, and his clemency petition has been joined by a diverse group of mental health professionals and the Virginia Catholic Conference. A letter signed by more than 50 mental health professionals, including two former commissioners of the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, urges McAuliffe to commute…
Policy Issues
Race
,Religion
,New Voices
,Aug 11, 2016
NEW VOICES: Latino Evangelical Leaders Call For End to Capital Punishment
Leaders of national Latino evangelical groups are calling for an end to the death penalty, citing both religious convictions and practical concerns about the fairness of capital punishment. Reverend Gabriel Salguero (pictured), founder of the Latino Evangelical Coalition, said, “Given studies on how the death penalty is meted out, particularly for people of color, if it’s not a level playing field, we need to speak out. … The needle has moved for Latinos and evangelicals.” According to the…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,May 18, 2016
Support for the Death Penalty by Republican Legislators No Longer a Sure Thing
One year after the Nebraska legislature voted to repeal the death penalty and overrode a gubernatorial veto of that measure, actions in legislatures across the country suggest that the state’s efforts signalled a growing movement against the death penalty by conservative legislators and that support for the death penalty among Republican legislators is no longer a given. Reporting in The Washington Post, Amber Phillips writes that Republican legislators in ten states sponsored or…
Facts & Research
Religion
,New Voices
,Mar 21, 2016
Baptist Theologian Says Death Penalty Does Not Fit With Christian Theology
Baptist ethicist and theologian Dr. Roger E. Olson (pictured) recently issued a call “for Christian churches to publicly stand against the death penalty for Christian reasons.” A professor of Christian Theology and Ethics at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Dr. Olson writes in an essay for the theology website Patheos.com that “authentic Christians must oppose the death penalty.” He says that, while “[t]here are many secular reasons to abolish the death penalty,”…
Policy Issues
Innocence
,Religion
,New Voices
,Feb 19, 2016
Orthodox Jewish Organization Calls for an End to Capital Punishment in the U.S.
“As Jews, as citizens of a nation dedicated to liberty and justice, we believe that governments must protect the dignity and rights of every human being. The use of the death penalty, in America, fails to live up to this basic requirement,” wrote Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz (pictured), founder and President of Uri L’Tzedek, the Orthodox Jewish social justice movement. In a column for Jewish Journal, Rabbi Yanklowitz outlines the reasons for Jewish opposition to the death penalty,…
Facts & Research
Religion
,New Voices
,Feb 19, 2007
Vatican Says Death Penalty Is “Affront to Human Dignity”
In a position paper issued this month during the World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Paris, the Vatican said that the death penalty “is not only a refusal of the right to life, but it also is an affront to human dignity.” Echoing the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the paper noted that while governments have an obligation to protect their citizens, “today it truly is difficult to justify” using capital punishment when other means of…
Facts & Research
Religion
,New Voices
,Feb 12, 2007
RELIGIOUS VIEWS: Leading Baptist Theologian Calls for National Halt to Executions
Professor David Gushee, Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, called for a national halt to executions because the death penalty as a public policy “fails the most basic standards of justice.” Prof. Gushee, writing for the Associated Baptist Press, stated that the recent moratorium in Tennessee surrounding lethal injection problems should be extended to review the entire application of the death…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Apr 25, 2006
United Methodist Church Marks 50th Anniversary of Stance Against Death Penalty
Marking the 50th anniversary of the United Methodist Church’s public call for an end to the death penalty, the church’s General Board of Church and Society recently issued a statement echoing the sentiments of the church’s original call for abolition and urging all United Methodists “to practice transformative love, to comfort the victims of crime, to humanize those convicted of crime, and to advocate for an end to the death penalty in our criminal justice system.” The statement comes five…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Apr 13, 2006
RELIGIOUS VIEWS: Catholic Bishops Invoke Holy Day in Calling for End to Executions
In a letter issued prior to Easter, the Catholic Bishops in Missouri called for an end to executions in the U.S. and urged parishioners to “build a culture of life.” The letter noted that violence “is not a solution to society’s problems,” and it summarized church teachings regarding capital punishment and highlighted a campaign by U.S. Catholic Bishops to end the use of the death penalty. “(Christ) was unjustly sentenced to death and executed on a cross, the cruelest form of capital…
Facts & Research
New Voices
,Jan 07, 2005
RELIGIOUS VIEWS: Connecticut Archbishop Asks Parishoners to Protest the Death Penalty
As Connecticut prepares to carry out its first execution in over 40 years, Catholic Archbishop Henry J. Mansell of Hartford called on local parishes to sign a Church petition that calls for an end to capital punishment. “The death penalty offers the tragic illusion that we can defend life only by taking life,” Mansell wrote in a letter that will be read during Masses on January 8 and 9. Other bishops in Connecticut are taking similar actions prior to the scheduled execution…
Dec 01, 2004
NEW RESOURCE: The Biblical Truth About America’s Death Penalty
A new book by Dale Recinella, The Biblical Truth About America’s Death Penalty, analyzes capital punishment through an examination of religious texts and teachings. Using sources such as the Torah, the Talmud, and the Bible, Recinella outlines what biblical texts say regarding who is deserving of the death penalty and who is granted the authority to impose such a sentence. While exploring issues such as innocence, race, mental capacity, and prosecutorial misconduct, Recinella weaves biblical…
Oct 29, 2004
RELIGIOUS VIEWS: Catholic Bishops Oppose Expansion of Federal Death Penalty for Terrorism
Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the Catholic Archbishop of Washington and acting as Chairman of the Domestic Policy Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, has urged House and Senate conferees working on anti-terrorism legislation to report out a final bill that would not expand the federal death penalty for terrorists. McCarrick wrote a letter to House and Senate leaders crafting their final version of the National Intelligence Reform Act (S. 2845).
May 12, 2004
NEW VOICES: New York Religious Leaders Unite Against Death Penalty, Call for Moratorium
New York religious leaders representing a range of faiths and regions recently united to voice their opposition to the death penalty and to encourage a moratorium on executions so that issues of fairness and accuracy may be addressed. A statement issued by the group noted: “[O]ur nation’s continued reliance on the death penalty is extremely costly, ineffective in fighting crime, unequally applied, and handed out with alarming frequency to defendants who are later proved to be innocent. Even…