Because they did not receive a love of the truth, God sent them a strong delusion that they might believe a lie
|
Essays Moral and Political
| |
Nicholas Ingram and Jeffery Dahmer Meet Their Maker IndexNicholas Lee Ingram died recently in Georgia's electric chair, and it was entirely just and right that he did. The only injustice was that Ingram continued to breathe the same air as decent folks a dozen years longer than he should have.We are told that Ingram passed into eternity "an angry and defiant man," without any hint of remorse for his crimes. Well, by now his sullen defiance has turned into weeping and gnashing of teeth, I suspect. Meanwhile this side of eternity, in the America we all love, there is enormous confusion about the death penalty. We did not execute Ingram to deter crime or to satisfy public outrage, or even to rid the earth of a moral blight. We executed him because it was the right thing to do. Justice is a moral imperative. Like other moral laws, it is built into the fabric of creation by God Himself. The breaking of a moral law has real consequences, just as the breaking of a physical law (say gravity) does. The laws of nature and the laws of God demand that every crime be answered by a fit punishment. And until quite recently in the history of our globe, it has been the universal conviction of mankind that murder should be punished by death. Capital punishment is an ancient and universal law. The uniform witness of pagan antiquity as well as the comprehensive covenant God gave to Noah both tell the same story. Mankind has always thought it was just and right to punish the murderer with death. The strong feelings of honest citizens in favor of the death penalty do not arise out of vindictiveness or revenge, but from an outraged sense of justice. Are we not made in God's image? Do we not get our sense of justice from Him? Common sense and right reason declare for the death penalty. Any child can see the rightness of it. The simplest, least educated among us will see that it makes sense. After all, it was the absolute necessity for justice that required the death of Christ. Justice had to be met. Only by taking the punishment that belonged to us could He justly declare us innocent. Unlike Ingram, Jeffery Dahmer, who killed and cannibalized 16 young men, did express remorse for his crimes. In fact, they say he accepted Christ before he died. But saved or not, he should have died at the hands of the state; it should not have been left to another inmate to render justice. If he did accept Christ, then of course we will see him in heaven. If you see him first, ask him. He will tell you I'm right. It is only common sense. |