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The Search for God's Opinion

 

            
             An examination of social sin and capital punishment through Sister Helen Prejean's.
            
             "And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made he man." (Bible: Genesis 9:5-6).
             When one ponders the image of God, and what is God's connection with worldly happenings, we must first bring ourselves into the shoes of the one being asked. In the book Dead Man Walking, Sister Helen Prejean writes about her experiences as a spiritual councilor to death row inmate Elmo Patrick Sonnier in Angola Prison in Louisiana. Patrick Sonnier was tired, convicted and sentenced to death in the electric chair for his involvement in the rape and murder of two of teenagers. Sister Prejean becomes involved with Sonnier after corresponding with him, and offers to meet to give him spiritual guidance. Prejean supports Sonnier through his trials of guilt and repentance, as she guides him to take responsibility for his sins and accept his fate. Though Prejean does not believe in capital punishment, she still believes in imprisonment and punishment to fulfill society's hunger for justice. This hunger is enlarged through the essence of the social fabric of that community of people; namely the people of Louisiana and those involved in the Louisiana criminal justice system. Though the killing of another human being is clearly a sin according to the commandments of God, "Thou shalt not kill"(Bible: Exodus 20:15), there are many who have twisted the Christian ideology to use the other side of God's words, citing God's words for retribution "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, strip for stripe" (Bible: exodus21: 23-25) to be the law of the land, and thus justification for capital punishment.


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