Julius Jones' life matters

 "I've made mistakes, but I'm not a killer.  I'm not a murderer," says Julius Jones from his jail cell, where he awaits execution tomorrow.

His impending death hangs heavy over this nation.

"That people are only hearing about it today is evidence that black lives don't matter," say many observers.

I didn't hear about it until yesterday.  

Today I called the office of the governor of Oklahoma: 405 521 2342.  You can call too.

My message:

Please tell the governor not to execute Julius Jones.  Give him more time in jail or commute his sentence.  Free him.

The governor could make a terrible mistake that he will regret later.

A life hangs in the balance.

The state of Oklahoma did not allow Julius to hug his mother today, the day before his death.  They have not hugged for 22 years.

Black lives matter.  

Mass murder in Saudi Arabia

How can a civilized nation--Saudi Arabia-- put 47 people to death without much negative blowback from other nations?

"Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was one of 47 detainees put to death by sword and firing squad in the kingdom's largest such mass execution since 1980," report Amro Hassan and Ramin Mostaghim in the Los Angeles Times.

http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-saudi-arabia-executes-47-20160102-story.html

47 people at once?  

The only offense of some of these men was political protest.

I should be out demonstrating at the Saudi embassy in Los Angeles.  I should be asking my government to take a stronger stand against this bloodshed.

On the other hand, my government allows execution, a punishment sometimes committed inhumanely and erroneously.

Most civilized nations have ended capital punishment--but not the US.

Most civilized nations have strict laws controlling guns--but not the US.

Most civilized nations provide health care to all their citizens--but not the US.

So I suppose there's not much I can do, except vent in a blogpost and work on ending the death penalty in my own nation.

Thank you to the LA Times for its editorial pointing out lack of serious US comment on Saudi Arabia's execution.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-saudi-iran-20160105-story.html

See the protests elsewhere:

http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-protests-iran-saudi-arabia-execution-20160103-story.html

Horror

Horror.  

Why does a government think it has the right to kill a human being?

Respect for human life is crushed by cold-blooded, organized execution, whether it's the guillotine in France or injection with a drug in Texas.

Yes, for one human to kill another is terrible.  It's insane, deranged, misguided, deluded, just plain wrong.  

But when a group of people calling themselves judges and jurors and employees of a prison methodically go about ending a human life, it's even more chilling.

Jesus would not carry out a death penalty.  He would say, "Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone."

In fact, that's what he did say.  John 8: 1-11.

What's with Texas?

The state of Texas continues its barbarity tonight with the planned execution of a woman in a wheelchair, Suzanne Basso.  

http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/woman-set-to-be-executed-in-texas-for-1998-killing

Yes, she is convicted of leading her son and a few others to kill and torture a man for his money.

But is she a threat to society?  Really?  

A degenerative disease has left her paralyzed.  She could be just fed and housed a few years, then allowed peacefully to go to her Maker to face judgment.

But the state of Texas apparently wants to take vengeance on this wreck of a human, ignoring the Bible, God's word: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Romans 12:19).

God forgive me for the hatred I feel toward Texas.

To read a fictional account of a similar mother and son, see "A House on the Plains" by E. L. Doctorow.

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=2001-06-18#folio=138

Here's a recent interview with Doctorow, now 83 years old, who just published another novel, Andrew's Brain.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/books/review/e-l-doctorow-by-the-book.html?_r=0

A note on hating and killing:

Jesus quoted the Scripture that says "Thou shalt not kill" and went further to link anger, contempt, and name-calling, condemning them all: "...whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire" (Matthew 5:22).  

At least the state of Texas is not a single person, so perhaps I can evade hell fire.  

Jesus did show anger against institutions in his day that were harming people (Mark 12:38-40, Matthew 21:12-13, Matthew 23).