I'm having a tricky time with this Op-Ed in the Jerusalem Post, about how the Catholic Church (and the pope) "came out publicly against Saddam's execution" and is henceforth evil. It's just a really stupid article, and I wonder how other people are reacting to it. Here's a fabulous line of prose from the piece:
Did anyone seriously believe that God was going to welcome this baby-killer into heaven rather than placing him in hell? Why would virtuous and righteous men like John Paul and Benedict make such outrageous mistakes?
Umm…. the point is that we don't know what God is up to. And the Church, in particular, believes in forgiveness for all. Even baby-killers. Wacky though it may seem to us.
And refusing to support the state-sanctioned killing of someone evil doesn't mean you support the evil, it only means you don't support killing people (overlooking a history of inquisitions and so forth).
Now, I'm no fan of Saddam, but I'm strongly, consistently opposed to execution, and the death penalty in all cases. I know people have a hard time with this, but I just can't (no matter how guilty a person may be) get my brain around killing people who killed people…. especially if you're a reasoned nation or multinational court. I don't see what purpose the killing serves in any moral sense (politics being another issue).
I'm not saying that I wouldn't personally shoot you in the face if you killed someone I love. But I'm not reasonable. I'm what we call a flawed human being. And though I might have killed Saddam myself, I'm opposed to goivernments making the same mistakes human beings make. Two wrongs don't make a right, and all that.
So I guess that means I "refuse to hate evil" too.
And I wonder if people would like to share their "Jewish responses" the the death penalty? And I would love to hear from someone wha, as a general rule, opposes the death penalty, but supports it in this case.
Because that is something I have a hard time understanding. But I want to.
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