Well, Lewis Williams is dead. He was executed recently for the 1983 murder of an elderly Cleveland woman. I guess I should feel better now. But for some reason, I don’t. Instead I feel sorrow.
It’s not because he didn’t deserve to be punished for his crime. It’s not because it took more than twenty years for the sentence to be carried out. And it’s not because he went into the death chamber kicking and screaming.
In fact, my sorrow isn’t for Lewis Williams. It is for us as a society. It concerns me that we not only feel the need to knowingly and deliberately take the life of another human being, but that we also feel we have the right to do so.
Now don’t get me wrong. These are not the thoughts of some sentimental bleeding-heart who is blind to the evil inherent in some people. I have watched trials of child killers and various other heinous criminals and found myself quietly hoping they receive the death penalty. That raw emotional desire for vengeance is a part of human nature.
But that and all the other valid arguments in support of capital punishment – deterrence, punishment, economics, closure – don’t make it right. And here’s why.
We must view human life as sacred, not because religion tells us to, but because a civilized society demands it. I do not believe that anyone has the right to determine – certainly not in a premeditated way – that another human being deserves to die. Capital punishment does precisely that.
We need not respect the individual, but we must respect the life of the individual. To do otherwise lessens the value that society places on all human life. That we would spare someone, no matter how vile they may be, is the greatest testament to the value we place on life.
I have heard the argument that we are better than “them” (the criminals), but capital punishment is not what makes us better. If anything, it lowers us a little closer to the criminal’s level. It makes a judgment that certain lives are less precious than others. As hard as it may be for us to accept, I do not believe that is our judgment to make. That decision should be left to God, and God alone.
It is based upon this belief that the argument for capital punishment on economic grounds - the “why should we pay to keep them alive” argument - is so troubling. It is precisely because we value life and are willing to bear that cost that makes us “better”. If we begin with the assumption that respect for life is paramount, then all the other arguments regarding punishment and deterrence become moot. But that is a big if. We may talk the talk, but it is another thing entirely to walk the walk.
I’m not sure I could do it. If anything were to happen to someone dear to me, I’d probably be leading the charge for vengeance. But I would hope that society would be there to restrain, rather than inflame, the animal instinct.
In the end, it is not cost, nor vengeance, nor deterrence that should guide us on this. It is respect for human life and the understanding that when it comes to ending it, we, as imperfect human beings, are not the ones to make that judgment.
