An Execution

As one whose husband and mother-in-law have died the victims of murder assassination, I stand firmly and unequivocally opposed to the death penalty for those convicted of capital offenses. An evil deed is not redeemed by an evil deed of retaliation. Justice is never advanced in the taking of a human life. Morality is never upheld by a legalized murder.
       –Coretta Scott King

Last week I heard that the violence in our world is lower ever before in recorded human history. This seems like a reasonable claim, knowing that things seem so bad because we are so tuned in to instant media in our growing global consciousness. A few days after hearing that violence is down i was on facebook and learned of a coming execution for a man I never met. Whenever there is an execution in the U.S. we burn a candle and display the name of the person who will die that day. Tuesday the person being executed is related to a woman I knew from St. Michael, AZ and she is going to be with him when he dies to be a witness of love. The past couple of days my mind keeps returning to the reality of government sanctioned execution and its brutality. I also reflect on the lives of innocent people lost in heinous crimes, in this case the woman  Winda Snipes. The life of the human person is precious and we suffer all of the loss together if we see how connected we are in this human family. And, I recognize that I am not a mother, sister or friend to someone whose life was  robbed from them through a violent crime. Coretta Scott King's quote helps me see the futility of exchanging one life for another and Tuesday my prayers will join with both families and Bret Hatman as he faces the reality of his own death.