Last week I had the honor of hearing Sr. Helen Prejean speak at an NCEA conference. If you ever get to hear her speak...DO IT. She wrote Dead Man Walking, which was later adapted into a movie starring Sean Penn and Susan Saradon. It is her mission to end the Death Penalty in the United States. Now, I have always considered myself staunchly prolife, and it has always seemed to me that we can't have it both ways. Why spend so much time protecting innocent life if we don't also protect guilty life? After hearing her speak, I came back to my religion class prep full of new zeal to include even more information about the death penalty in my classroom.
And that's when I got really upset. After checking numerous Catholic websites and finding tons of information on abortion, including resources for kids and lesson plans, I found maybe 2 paragraphs about the death penalty. Most sites didn't mention it at all. On one website I took the time to write out a lengthy question about where to find such resources and posted it in the life issues forum. Yesterday I got an email back saying that it didn't fit in the life issues forum and to post it somewhere else. How is the death penalty not a life issue? This was a MAJOR Catholic media site for the USA.
In the midst of all this, Pope John Paul II was beatified. I had been following the story with interest and even drove out to the farm to watch some of the news coverage with Willie. In religion class, I tried to engage my students in the discussion, but all they could talk about was the death of Osama Bin Laden. I wondered what the Pope would have said if he had been alive to see this day. For some reason, the rejoicing in Bin Laden's death made me very uncomfortable. I think that the spokesman for the Vatican said it best:
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4 comments:
It has made me glad to see that bin Laden's death didn't sit well with everyone. I don't know if all those same people would have been made uncomfortable had he been given lethal injection after a trial, but it at least shows that there are people out there who do value the lives of people who have done them serious harm.
It is kind of disturbing that you weren't able to find anything on the Catholic sites about the death penalty... Do you think it's a political thing? No major party is against both the death penalty and abortion. I remember learning in morality class in high school about the "seamless garment" approach/whatever-it's-called, which says you can't be prolife without being against both... I know it's got to be out there somewhere, but... well, wow.
After a little more digging, to be fair I should add that the U.S Bishops' website has some very helpful resources and documents under Capital Punishment.
I agree with, Emily. I also saw that statement from the Vatican earlier this week, and I thought it was well put.
I usually tell people that the death penalty just financially doesn't make sense, but that's not the only reason I think it's wrong. Someone I know was murdered recently, the killer confessed, and I still feel the same way about the death penalty. (Maybe I'd feel differently if I was a family member or a closer friend of the victim.)
I know the Cathechism has some stuff...two girls in my class did their History Day project on the death penalty, it was very interesting. Some of the changes added to the new edition of the CCC apparently reflect JPIIs death penalty thoughts.
We talked about Osama last week, and I saved JP II for this week. We are making collages...really, is there any greater example of Catholic citizenship lived out amidst challenging history than JPII?
So glad you got to hear Sr. Helen speak, that must have been AWESOME!
Rosie thinks she has a tick, better go...
peace,
k
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