This has been one of those stories that keeps popping up in my face lately, and I kept pushing it aside because I was honestly a little bewildered at all the attention it was getting. Surely there are multiple people who get executed in cases that are a bit wishy-washy (and in light of this story's gained interest, more of those stories are coming out). Let's get the first thing out of the way: I don't think he should be executed. However, all the media attention and my reaction to it made me pause. Why was I so weird about it? I'm a peace-loving, people-redeeming kind of gal. What was my hesitance?
I think it is multi-faceted, but the bottom line is, I hadn't decided in my head and heart if I believed in capital punishment. I mean, really, why did I never process it out? Because I was never affected by it. Do YOU know anyone about to be put to death? I would guess for the majority it's no. So here is Troy's face staring at me from all the news articles and I realized I needed to have a little discussion with myself. It didn't take long for me to discover that as a human, as a Christian, as a logical thinker, I couldn't support capital punishment. I used two different angles to come to this conclusion. As a student of philosophy (yes- I got THAT *employable* degree)- I have learned that it is pretty difficult to find black and white. The justice system asks for a tall order when we only convict when sure beyond a reasonable doubt of guilt. When it comes to killing a person- I think the only doubt should be theories of unicorn intervention or alternate universes. So logically, it is nearly impossible (in my opinion) to be THAT sure. As a Christian and really as a human who cares, I believe killing is wrong. Period. It doesn't redeem things. It solves things sometimes, but I'm for redemption. That may seem naive, but I believe it is the way of the Kingdom of God. So logic won't ever hand us a clean black or white for the justice system to convict with intent to punish by death, and faith and common humanity does not allow me to take or condone taking the life of another.
I think the thing that stood in the way for me to make these moral judgments was that I was focused on whether Troy was indeed guilty or not. There is this looming shadow of doubt, for sure, but it's all a little fishy. Chances are the truth lies somewhere in the middle of total guilt and total innocence. When I stepped back from this dialogue of guilt I realized that it didn't matter if I thought he was all the way guilty or not. In terms of the legal system requiring that accused be guilty beyond reasonable doubt- it seems obvious that this is not the case for Troy Davis. However, I bet Troy did something wrong. I bet he did a lot of somethings wrong. This is most likely the stumbling block for those who favor his execution. That, and he's black. Very unfortunate for him.
This was the second sort of epiphany for me. Race issues keep popping up discreetly and not-so-discreetly. I firmly believe that being black was a hazard to this man's sentencing. I have to remind myself of the context of time and how very recent the civil rights movement began... and even how recent the emancipation of slaves began. This history is not so far away and to ignore the ramifications of that is to be .... um.... ignorant. I don't know what else can be said on this except to pray that God help us all. Redeem the minds warped by history that have flashes of violence and mistrust when they see someone of color walking along the street. Redeem our society that trains by expectations and poverty for those same people of color to be self-fulfilled prophecies. It is injustice compounded.
So, Troy Davis- I'm sorry. I'm sorry it took me so long to care about your case. I'm sorry that the justice system is flawed and that you happen to have the worse case scenario when it comes to being screwed by the system. And I pray for all of us that we may be continually redeemed by the God of grace, mercy, and love.
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