Man is made in the image of God. Man is valuable. Man is special. Christians of all persuasions do not generally disagree on the prior points. After the flood, in speaking with Noah, God explains how valuable blood and life is by informing Noah it will be blood for blood from this point forward. If you take the life of a man, the life of a man is required because man is made in the image of God.
One of the Ten Commandments memorialize the value of life. Do not murder. It is clear as day in three words. Man shall not take the life of another man. However, we know people do this. We know people kill others with purpose and even by accident. For those accidental deaths, God imposed free cities where the accidental killer could go and be free of retribution. But for those who committed a murder? For them it was much more harsh. Justice was swift and it was painful.
We read in Leviticus 24: 17-23 just how severe the penalty for killing was. If a man kills anyone, he must be put to death. Even the life of an animal must be paid through restitution, the principal is life for life. If a fracture happens, then a fracture is given. The same goes for the eyes, one for one. Then in a twist, God says the law for Israel is the same for guests! All people should be held to the same standard. There is no special exemption for the Israelite and there is no special punishment for the sojourner. They are all equal before the Lord.
The problem is, we humans can get self righteous about the Old Testament. Our laws are often flavored with this self righteousness. Jesus began tearing down our self righteous tendencies by pointing out the true intentions behind the Law and what God expects from humanity. In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew records a number of teachings that point out the mercy and love of God compared to our righteous indignation and brutality.
In Matt 5: 21-26, Jesus takes the Biblical value system and expands it well beyond anything man was prepared for. Jesus says even getting angry with your brother or sister makes you subject to judgment. An insult likewise brings judgment through the court. In other words, the thoughts we have and the words we say are as sinful as the acts themselves. Now this was a new understanding! This is what it meant to be a Christian.
Jesus says make peace with your enemy. Do not harbor anger in your heart. Forgive others, otherwise every single penny will be paid in judgment, because we are all guilty of murder and more in our heart and thoughts.
The culmination of this teaching, before Jesus was resurrected, is found with the adulteress in John 8: 1-11. This story tears down our hard hearts and should make us look in the mirror of self reflection as we yell, "Blood for Blood!" The Pharisees bring a woman caught in an affair and throw her at the feet of Jesus. This is a guilty woman. Just imagine how she must have feared and felt in this moment. She knew her life was on the line. She did not expect an ounce of mercy from this lot. She knew they wanted her blood and they were prepared to take her life.
Jesus ignores the Pharisees for a few moments as they demand a ruling from him regarding her punishment. Jesus allows them to continue drawing the noose around their own necks as they demand she be stoned as Moses wrote in the Law. In the face of their persistence, Jesus stands and says, "The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her." You see, Jesus knew each of them was guilty before God of sinning, just as she was, and they knew it too if they took the time to think about it. He put them on the carpet just as they were putting her on the carpet and they departed, leaving her alone with Jesus. When their sins were on the line, they wanted mercy. The mirror does not lie.
Jesus, in an act of mercy, asks the adulteress, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She responds in the affirmative and Jesus shows us the great love of God in his response to the woman. He says, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on do not sin anymore." Jesus forgave her before she even asked for it, then he applied a fresh condition to her by saying sin no more. Her past sins at this point are forgiven and she is now free to proceed, but she must stop her sinful behavior. He gave her life when they demanded it be taken.
So why have we had such a blood lust for capital punishment in the United States? It cannot be because we are a Christian nation, because a Christian nation, if such a thing were even possible under the leadership of man, would strive for repentance and restoration. An eye for an eye and blood for blood is the Old Testament understanding of justice. The United States should never be confused with a Christian nation, no matter how hard Republicans attempt to convince you and the world of it.
A Christian nation would strive to restore. We may not be able to give the dead life, but we can give the condemned life. The murderer and the rapist deserve death. There is no doubt about it, but so do we all for having murderous and sexual thoughts in our own minds, even if the majority of us do not act on them. When one life is taken, the taker of the life must give his life in restoration. Is there a dollar figure or is there a time frame that would be most accurate? Well this is where we could debate and wise people make decisions on what must be given and over what period of time.
However, the taker or destroyer of life owes the victims and their family restitution and this is not done sitting in a prison or dying in capital punishment. This is a life for a life. The perpetrator owes his life for the one he took and he owes it to the family or person he took it from and this can only be done through restitution, and in so doing, God will work on the restoration and forgiveness necessary in all parties. This is how a Christian Nation would handle crime.
Now I get it. Not all guilty persons would be willing to work and restore the wronged. In these cases where the perpetrator is unrepentant, banishment is the only Christian answer. They have forgone their inclusion with the rest of humanity. They have chosen banishment instead of restoration. No one owes them anything at this point. An island somewhere, a long ways from anywhere would work just fine. Fly the unrepentant there and leave them. An island of misfits who refused to atone for their sins. Leave them there, branded and alone with the other sinners who refused to give their life in replacement for the one they took.
It is with this in mind, the tyrant governor of Virginia finally did something right. He signed the bill banning blood for blood. Now the Virginia system of justice is still a fr cry from anything that could be considered just, but at least it is no longer killing people itself. Every other facet of the criminal justice system is ripe with corruption and still in place, but this one thing is ended, thankfully. That is one positive step in the right direction. I would be surprised if the governor did another right thing again, but finally he has done one thing right.
Saints, I want to ask you a question. Why is Virginia in 2021 the first Southern State to outlaw capital punishment? The South is the heart of Christianity in the United States, but many of the full on pagan states already outlawed this form of injustice. Why has it taken until 2021 for a Southern state to finally do what is right? Will the rest of the southern states follow suit soon? I highly doubt it and so when someone says this is a Christian nation, I have a hard time looking them in the face because there is nothing Christian about the United States and I shudder at the thought of what they must think being a Christian means and is.
Saints, it is well past time to stop placing your allegiance with pagans and their systems. We have very little in common with them until they become believers. We have a King! We do not have presidents or prime ministers, those are foisted upon us without mercy. Those are the world's solutions to man/sin made problems. They are of the devil. Only a righteous King can truly lead, so please stop following the pagans. Come out of her and do it soon. Let us lead a parade of people out of Babylon!