1,000th Person Executed This Morning

At 2:15 a.m. EST Kenneth Lee Boyd (why do so many killers use their middle names?) was put to death by lethal injection at a North Carolina prison. With Boyd's execution, state and federal governments in the U.S. have fried or poisoned to death 1,000 people since capital punishment was reinstated in the seventies.

I don't have time to offer commentary right now, but here are a few things to think about:

The United States is the only western nation that kills as a form of punishment

No evidence demonstrates that the death penalty is a deterrent to crime

Not to bring money into this, but the sometimes decades-long process of executing someone is very costly

New forensic technology has led to the exonerations of several death-row inmates in recent years

Decisions to sentence convicts to death as opposed to life imprisonment are capricious and inconsistent

Keep those on death row as well as the friends and families of murder victims in your prayers today.

We believe the death penalty denies the power of Christ to redeem, restore and transform all human beings. The United Methodist Church is deeply concerned about crime throughout the world and the value of any life taken by a murder or homicide. We believe all human life is sacred and created by God and therefore, we must see all human life as significant and valuable. When governments implement the death penalty (capital punishment), then the life of the convicted person is devalued and all possibility of change in that person's life ends. We believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and that the possibility of reconciliation with Christ comes through repentance. This gift of reconciliation is offered to all individuals without exception and gives all life new dignity and sacredness. For this reason, we oppose the death penalty (capital punishment) and urge its elimination from all criminal codes.

—The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, 2004