Forget Not the Sinner

Generally speaking, conservatives identify as pro-life.  I often take this notion for granted, assuming my ideal of “pro-life-ness” is the norm among my colleagues on the right. However, a startling range of opinion appears whenever capital punishment is thrown in the mix.  Is life always sacred, or can the state wield death in the cause of justice?

A good friend once said that the right to life may be lost by committing heinous crimes.  The criminal has rejected his victim’s humanity, as well as his own, and must pay the price for such inhuman behavior.  Restoring justice through capital punishment, society ensures protection from further harm.  Many conservatives agree with this rationale and its conclusion–that governments hold power over the life and death of criminals.

While I have no qualms with this in theory, is it universally applicable?  Are there alternatives?  Defending capital punishment in principle, natural law philosopher Austin Fagothey presents a persuasive argument against its application.

Though the state has the right of capital punishment, it need not exercise the right if it can protect itself from criminals in another way.  In former ages, life imprisonment for all major criminals was impossible because the jails did not exist.  If the state may prove it can effectively handle crime without the death penalty, it may be argued that it not only need not–but should not–use it. (Fagothey 423)

This rationale gains further support in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  “If non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the common good and more in conformity with the dignity of the human person … the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity are very rare, if not practically nonexistent” (Catechism 2267).  In essence, the criminal never loses his natural dignity.  He himself may deny it, but society is bound to honor the indelible imago Dei found within.

As we continue to foster a culture of life, forget not the sinner.