A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media. This week’s item is from the Dallas Morning News, May 10, 2002 with a headline: “Mom pleads for son’s repentant killer.” The mother of a murder victim has asked a Texas parole board to spare her son’s condemned killer. Johnny Joe Martinez, 29, is scheduled to die by injection next week.But Lana Norris recently sent a letter to prison officials asking that his death sentence be commuted to life, the Dallas Morning News reported.Martinez confessed and was convicted of the stabbing death of Norris’ 20 year old son, Clay Peterson as he worked at an over night convenience store shift 9 years ago.To execute Martinez would be a double crime against society, wrote Norris who’s plea came after a recent face to face meeting with Martinez at which time she prayed with him.“Here is a young man who has truly repented and regrets his actions.” Norris told the News that she prayed long and hard about writing the letter last week.“I’ve been blessed by an extraordinary God and as a result of that, have probably been healed more than most victims.”Clay’s father, Paul Peterson, also supports commutation for Martinez.“His son discussed his Christian beliefs with many people and would have followed the teachings of Christ to forgive, not seven times, but seventy times seven,” Peterson said.“I can do no less.”Parole officials are uncertain whether to schedule a public hearing to reconsider Martinez’s death sentence, the News reported.
Tom:
Dave, there are a couple of issues, which is one of the reasons I selected this news article.Capital punishment is certainly one.In the past we’ve had situations in which those who were on death row came to Christ.As a matter of fact, we just got a letter from somebody who’s on death row right now and we printed in next month’s newsletter.
Dave:
We have a number of communications, some of them sound like the Apostle Paul, they are so zealous for sound doctrine.
Tom:
Yes, and they have a ministry of prayer.Not only ministering to one another as they can right there, so again, they can be used of God where they are so they can have a fruitful ministry.But we still are facing this issue of capital punishment.Is it biblical?Isn’t it biblical?We had an example a couple of years ago in which a young lady in Texas came to Christ, but she was about to be executed and they Christians and others, people who are against capital punishment—what’s your take?
Dave:
First of all Tom, there’s no question that the Bible gives us capital punishment.God is the author of capital punishment.He said, “The soul that sinneth it must die.” Now that’s real capital punishment, separated from God forever.He cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden so they couldn’t take of this tree of life and live forever.“The wages of sin is death.As by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin….”So if we believe the Bible at all, we believe that God is the one that instituted capital punishment.
Tom:
And Christ had to pay that penalty.
Dave:
There is the ultimate proof, because Christ had to die for our sins.Now also in the Old Testament, God comes down very hard on them if they do not exact the death penalty.He says, “If you do not execute murderers, the blood of their victims cries out from the ground and contaminates the very land in which you live.”I think we would have to say that’s part of the problem in America.We’ve got murderers that are murdering babies in the womb.The womb ought to be the safest place for a baby.Partial birth abortion is so incredible.The just leave a little of the head still in and suck the brains out and don’t even give the little baby a pain killer or anything.It is so inhumane!You wouldn’t treat baby seals that way.They would really be after you.So we have plenty of murder going on and we have plenty of people crying out against the death penalty.But God says, “Look,”—well Tom, it’s difficult for me.Now here I am a grandfather and you know the problem with grandfathers.You haven’t gotten to that point yet, but wait till it comes Tom.We get awfully soft-headed and soft-hearted.But look, if punishment is not meted out—I travel around a lot and I see two year olds in some homes, they ought to have an emperor’s crown on their heads, because they run the whole place.Everybody’s afraid of them—they might throw a tantrum and they learn that crime pays, basically right from childhood that they can just run the show.And everybody’s afraid of them and they get their own way.If you do not exact a penalty for a crime—and let’s look at it this way, this person had no pity when he murdered someone.Sometimes [they] murder multiple numbers of people.Then we are going to show pity on this person?Jesus said the merciful will receive mercy.
Tom:
But Dave, this example and the example I mentioned earlier, supposedly these people have repented, they’ve come to Christ, they have become a new creature and so on.
Dave:
Yes, but the Bible never says anything about if the murderer repents.Now you’ve got a murderer, one of the worst mass murderers in history, Arafat.And he swore off of terrorism, can you imagine that?And that’s why they even went to Oslo to discuss this.You can imagine that you’ve got a mass murderer and he says oh guys, I’m not going to do it anymore.So you let him go.You let him out in society again and they made a Nobel Prize winner out of this man.So it shows the irrationality and the fruit of this sort of conduct.Then you have no fear.“Well I’ll murder somebody, but the worst I’ll get is a nice comfortable cell with good food and so forth.I don’t know in some places they do treat them very well with a TV and etc, etc.Tom, all I can say is you put it very well.The death penalty—that was exacted upon Jesus Christ.This is what God says.He said, “The soul that sinneth, it must die.”And in fact, he said, “Do not pity them.Though they cling to the altar in the temple, you will take them from the altar and you will execute those who commit murder.”That’s what the Bible says.
Tom:
—As a deterrent for crime.
Dave:
Yes, it seems harsh Tom, but this is the Word of God and I think it’s the way we must go if we are going to obey God.
Tom:
On the other hand, God could be merciful.He was merciful to David; he was merciful to others; to Cain.So for those who are on death row, God could intervene on their behalf.I don’t think we can overthrow what the Bible says about this Dave, but also what about these parents who are intervening?Parents of the victims?
Dave:
I think it shows Christ living in them.Christ who from the cross says, “Father forgive them, (his murderers) they know not what they do.”And Christ was living in Stephen as Stephen being stone cries out, “O God lay not this to their charge.No charge with this crime.”So I think it’s very commendable, the love of Christ and the forgiveness that we see in the parents.On the other hand, as you said, we can’t overthrow what God has said in his Word.It’s not up to us to make the exceptions.If God wanted to make an exception with this person, he could have done it.