Standing against capital punishment

This evening I joined about 25 people ranging in age from 18 months to 94 years old on the steps of the University of Georgia for a prayer vigil.  About 20 came from our community and there were a few folks from Athens there.  We unfurled a large banner that read, "Did you Know that the state of Georgia is planning to Kill Marcus Wellons tonight?" Smaller signs read, "Choose Life," "RIP Death Penalty" and "Execution is not the Solution." I stood with a sign that read, "Let the One without Sin Cast the First Stone" beside a friend who survived the Khmer rouge in Cambodia. She propped up a large banner that read "Execute Justice not People."We just stood there in the heat on the street, bearing witness to the fact that while we go about our business a man will be strapped to a gurney and have his life taken by lethal injection.  We wanted people to stop and think, "This is wrong."  Some people asked a few questions.  A few folks took pictures.  Some glared or looked puzzled, most gave affirming smiles and nods. 

From what I have heard, Marcus Wellons has changed a lot since the day he raped and murdered his fifteen year old neighbor.  The biggest change has been his growth as a follower of Jesus. What a tragedy that our society favors vengeance over redemption, recompense over forgiveness.  It seems to cheapen a belief that Jesus died for our sins if we support killing people for any sins.  Father, forgive them for they don't know what they are doing.

The vigil we attended was one of many across the state, organized by Georgians for Alternatives to of the Death penalty any day that an execution is scheduled in Georgia.  Find out more about their important work here http://www.gfadp.org/home

For more information about the death penalty this is a good site:www.deathpenaltyinfo.org

We closed our vigil by reading this prayer written by --Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J.:

Please join in praying for the victim's family, Marcus Wellons and his family, especially his mom, and the warden who will have to carry out the orders.

A Prayer to Abolish the Death Penalty

God of Compassion,
You let your rain fall on the just and the unjust.
Expand and deepen our hearts
so that we may love as You love,
even those among us
who have caused the greatest pain by taking life.

For there is in our land a great cry for vengeance
as we fill up death rows and kill the killers
in the name of justice, in the name of peace.

Jesus, our brother,
you suffered execution at the hands of the state
but you did not let hatred overcome you.
Help us to reach out to victims of violence
so that our enduing love may help them heal.

Holy Spirit of God,
You strengthen us in the struggle for justice.
Help us to work tirelessly
for the abolition of state-sanctioned death
and to renew our society in its very heart
so that violence will be no more. Amen.