Poetry With A Mission



...a thought provoking poetical exercise.

The Death Penalty

Anyone who commits murder, just life in prison should receive,
And not the death penalty, for such is hardly right, I believe.
Either killing is right or it's wrong, and clearly it isn’t right,
Therefore, the death penalty's something that we should dismiss outright.

Yes, it’s plainly hypocritical, and behaviour that’s askew,
If we’re condemning killing, and yet, are involved in killing too.
You see, we’re simply sanctioned killers, who also don’t have the right
To kill another person; and an innocent one too, we might.

Two wrongs don’t make a right — in fact, that simply makes us more guilty,
For where is our noble example, as we know better, don’t we?
Folk can hardly be pro-life and the sanctity of life thus sell,
If they — just like a murderer — are wrongly taking life as well.

Whenever we kill a murderer, they’re hardly punished at all,
For once they've lost their life, they’re no longer behind a prison wall.
You see, it’s behind those walls that real punishment takes place,
For behind those walls — just misery — twenty four seven they face.

Imagine living alone in a very tiny death-row cell,
Where every single day would just be a mind-bending carousel.
However, just leaving folk in a cell to simply vegetate,
Is hardly to our credit either, so let’s rehabilitate.

You see, how we treat the offender says a lot about us too,
So mind what you’re endorsing, be very careful what you pursue.
Despite whatever they may have done, we still should act humanely,
Otherwise, we’re no better, and are acting hypocritically.

And there's another thing that we should carefully consider too:
What if to those very same gallows, a judge wrongfully sends you?
Yes, let the murderer live, I say, lest an innocent man die,
And we become a party to what one could never justify.

By Lance Landall

P.S. Can Christians justify the death penalty via the Bible? No.

Why? The ancient nation of Israel was a theocracy,
That is, God ruled it directly himself, wisely and lovingly.
Now, God no longer rules directly, like He did that old nation,
Therefore, we are faced with a very different situation.

No, God’s not ruling nations now, like He did ancient Israel,
It’s simply humans who are ruling, and who’ve left a tragic trail.
To such, God's never given the right to say who may live or die,
For He knows very clearly that if He did, things would go awry.

And most certainly they have, for many innocent men have died,
Which is an outrageous evil, something that can't be justified.
For given we're God’s creation, only He can decree who dies,
And after ancient Israel, such killing He didn’t authorize.


N.B. If you wish, you can use this poem minus the three bottom verses.

 Recommended reading: "Just Revenge" by Mark Costanzo, Ph.D.
Theme: Costs and consequences of the Death Penalty.