Nidal Malik Hasan is an evil man who committed an evil act when he attacked Fort Hood, killing 13 and injuring 37. There is no question that he, and others who commit these kinds of acts, should never see the light of day beyond prison walls. Whether he should be executed for these crimes is part of a long and complicated debate, one that I am not engaging in here. I will confess that I waver on the death penalty, mostly because of my concern about killing innocent people, which has happened. In Hasan’s case, he is guilty; there is no question that he committed these heinous murders. Now, according to military law, he will be killed by firing squad. That is also not the point of today’s thoughts. This is – Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has decided to put the execution on television for all the world to see. Our country would join China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Yemen in that distinction.
Meanwhile, Robert Jeffress, pastor of a megachurch in Dallas, is encouraging his congregation to watch the execution, while religious leaders from other denominations are appalled and disgusted by it, to use a few descriptions. Franklin Graham thinks it is hypocritical to have so much violence on television while condemning this event. President Trump likes the idea; Vice President Vance says he will not watch. A number of soldiers have claimed religious exemptions to not be part of the firing squad; some don’t want people they know to see them participate. And while some religions allow an eye for an eye, Christianity does not. That doesn’t keep self-avowed Christians from participating in that practice, but they go against the teachings of Jesus when they do.
I don’t want to live in a nation governed by any religious laws, including my own. I do, however, want Christians to stand against acts that explicitly go against the teachings of Jesus; public executions fit this category. The death penalty is not so clear; Jesus said,
“Whoever receives a child in my name receives me; but whoever causes one of these little ones to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” That’s in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This barbaric act of violent voyeurism gives me insight into just how depraved some people are. I understand the need for victims to have closure, but I do not understand the desire of those not directly connected to the case to watch this execution. My theology tells me that Hasan will probably go to hell, but I don’t need to watch as he enters it. What does it say about those who are Christians who want to participate in this? I think it says that they just don’t get the teachings of Jesus; and He was publicly executed too.
Prayer – Merciful God, those who do wrong should pay the consequences, but that doesn’t mean we should watch. Amen.
Today’s art is “The Magpie on the Gallows” (1568) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.