Murderers and Rapists: What Would Jesus Do?
And now comes Mr. Stephen Collins, a Left Coast actor, the star of Seventh Heaven, who has written one more page in the chronicles of Christian compromise. In a Fox News report dated Thursday, June 18, 2009, Mr. Collins announced: “I go to church, I’m a Christian.” Apparently, going to church, being a Christian, and living in California theologically equips one to make deep statements. Says Mr. Collins:
“we need to reexamine the dollars we are spending to indulge our lust to put people to death.”
Mr. Collins is perhaps referring to Sarah Palin-loving, religion- and gun-clinging conservative Christians who spend every waking moment fantasizing, lusting to see “people” die in the electric chair. Mr. Collins did not refer to any particular “people” that he had in mind who are the objects of these wicked lusts. Could he have meant sundry rapists, pedophiles, murders, terrorists, and torturers that I have heard inhabit American prisons?
But Mr. Collins is not finished. He informs us about Jesus’s thoughts on the matter:
“The death penalty solves nothing except a kind of understandable but misguided sense of justice and vengeance, and certainly Jesus never says anything about executing people… As a Christian it troubles me, and Christ did not advocate putting people to death for any reason.”
That’s what I love about postmodernist left coast Christians. They can say anything they want contrary to Scripture and no nasty fundamentalist quoting the Bible can deter them for a minute. Sort of like how Messiah Obama deals with the federal deficit. I can imagine some white-sock wearing Neanderthal appearing from the woods and quoting Luke 22:36:
And He said to them, “But now, let him who has a purse take it along, likewise also a bag, and let him who has no sword sell his robe and buy one.
Now, why on earth would Jesus suggest such a violent thing? How could he suggest his disciples buy a sword, for crying out loud, when Jesus wouldn’t advocate putting people to death “for any reason?” Perhaps Mr. Collins could tell us, since he apparently has a hot line to Jesus’ throneroom. Maybe Jesus meant for the disciples to cook pancakes on their swords. Maybe they were to be sword-collectors.
It must be particularly embarrassing to Mr. Collins that one of Jesus’ chief apostles openly advocated the death penalty:
Romans 13:4 (NASB77) for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it [the government] does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil.”
Those nasty Scriptures again. They can be so offputting. I suppose that’s why left coast modern Christians never read them.
I wonder what Jesus would do if he were asked to give advice to an executioner about to pull the switch on a murder who had terrorized, tortured, raped, dismembered, and killed a little ten-year old girl? What would Jesus do? I am afraid that Mr. Collins would be disapppointed to discover that Jesus very probably would do this. He would say:
“Fry him like an egg.”
So, if I am going to fly with your interpretation of Romans 13:4, you need to be careful what you say about Obama, because his government is a minister of God. You are doing exactly what you continually proclaim the Left Coast Christians are guilty of.
I do not question the inerrancy of The Bible, however, I do question your interpretation of it. You are also free to question mine as well.
It is easy to sit back and arm chair quarterback other people’s journey with God, however it would be much more Kingdom Building to take this time you spend here to feed the poor and proclaim the grace and love of God to your community at large.