Ending a life. Your choice or theirs?

Carol Forsloff - Abortion is hotly debated,  while  less debated is capital punishment and end of life options; but all three pose ethical and religious questions about who has the right to end
a life. 

The right to end a life is at the heart of many of today’s issues. It surrounds ethics on euthanasia, capital punishment and abortion. It fuels many debates and political decisions, so it’s being discussed widely in the news.

Some believe the questions provoked by who has the right to end a life are foolish to begin with and perhaps should be re-examined as a consequence.The Netherlands  had a movement where some of the elderly maintained they wanted the choice to end their lives at a time when they believed they had lived a "completed life."  This question too became controversial in the social and religious debates of that country.

Waldeman of Politics Daily, observed that the whole debate on abortion should be scrapped. He observes that 69% of people believe abortion is taking of a life and yet 71% believe abortion should be legal. He asks about the unusual dichotomy of those beliefs and the ethical issues about it,certainly something of note.

He ends up by saying, " There should be some sort of compromise on the issue, given the hypocrisy indicated by these percentages and trying to determine what month or what time life begins, that if it is done it should take place as early as possible to save the problems that could come later."

This year, as years before, people continue to ask if euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide should be legalized. Oregon has the law and has found that not that many people actually avail themselves of its use, and therefore have found no dramatic problems have resulted. They have found out that financial issues involved in prolonged illness has played a part in some of the decisions people made.

Still the issue of euthanaisia  remains a debatable topic, front and center, that can be looked at in all of its ramifications at a website on euthanasia while the group that supports it continues to work on legislative acts.

2008 was a good year for death penalty abolitionists,  and Texas has had their fair share this year, as have other states in other years as well.  In 2013 Texas again won the grand prize as the leader of the executions. The choice of ending a life is primarily lethal injections, although death penalty advocates maintain it really does not matter as long as the perp is dead.

Texas also has among the most vociferous folks against abortion and as a mostly Christian state opposes euthanasia too.  So it stands true to the hypocritical belief that it is okay to kill in war or to punish but not to allow a woman to make her own decision about an abortion, which for some faiths takes not a life at all, as some say life begins when the person takes a breath not when there is quickening in the womb.  And Texas offers no option for taking one's own life, or allowing a doctor to it, even when the chances of recovery are slim to none at all.


The whole issue against capital punishment is gaining momentum experts maintain. This may mean fewer and fewer states apt to give the death penalty. Indeed Senator Leland Yee of California believes that long prison sentences for juveniles is tantamount to a death sentence and wants it changed to 25 years to life with review at 10 years.

Who has the right to end a life, whether that is the application of the death penalty, having an abortion of opting to end one's life at a time of one's choice,  is at the heart of discussions that take place in social circles and politics, and if past years, and upcoming events are
any indication, those discussions will likely continue, especially as baby boomers age with their physical disabilities and declining financial resources.

‘Lying eyes' create serious problems for death penalty option

 

Gas chamber is one of the death penalty options

The death penalty is favored by many Americans, while experts tell us how witness mistakes create wrongful convictions. Lying eyes and witness mistakes have caused too the wrongfully convicted to spend long years in prison and likely innocent people to have been executed, according to legal experts. 

As folks who stand at the bar of justice wait for honest decisions about their guilt or innocence, sometimes the balance is swayed by witness error. Experts maintain it is a major problem in the criminal justice system, as innocent people languish in jail for years because of these errors. How and why does it happen?

Various research studies have indicated that witnesses err when making judgments about crimes. It has been found that in 75 percent of cases overturned by DNA testing,  eyewitness accounts were wrong, according to the Innocence Project.

Research conducted at Pennsylvania University by Mary Beth Oliver, a media studies professor, found people often get details wrong when race is a factor. She examined viewer memory of black and white criminal suspects in a newscast. When these viewers watched a news story with both black and white suspects, then were given a wanted poster of either an African American or white suspect, they often identified the African Americans as the ones guilty.

“Over time,” Oliver wrote in a report published in the Journal of Communications, “participants who had seen the Caucasian suspect in the news story were increasingly likely to mistakenly identify African-Americans as the ones guilty of a crime. In addition, endorsement of anti-black attitudes was associated with decreases in mis-identification of Caucasian photographs and increases in misidentification of African-American photographs.”

That type of wrong eyewitness testimony has led to wrong convictions, as in the case of someone discussed in the article about the Penn State research. A man by the name of Ronald Cotton spent 11 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, having been picked out of a lineup by victims, one ambivalent but persuaded by the earlier identification. Both of these witnesses misidentified Cotton, which led to his sentence. He was found guilty even though physical evidence at the scene indicated another man may have committed the crime. That other man, Bobby Poole, eventually confessed to both rapes.

A review of 53 cases of wrongful convictions in New York State revealed the following to be the paramount causes, according to a study presented by the New York Bar Association. These were the causes found:

• Government Practices: one or more general errors by a government actor (a prosecutor,member of law enforcement, or judge). • Identification Procedures: the misidentification of the accused by the victim and/or one or more eyewitnesses. • Mishandling of Forensic Evidence: errors in the handling or preservation of key forensic evidence and/or the failure to use DNA testing. • Use of False Confessions: the extraction and use of what turned out to be a false confession by the accused

There have been 241 wrongful convictions in the United States according to the Innocence Project. This is the breakdown according to race: 143 African Americans 70 Caucasians 21 Latinos 2 Asian American 5 whose race is unknown.

Only about half of those wrongfully convicted have been financially compensated, although 27 states are presently working on this issue. Still it is telling that given the information about wrong eyewitness accounts, specifically about African Americans when compared to white suspects, the large number of African American convictions certainly shows race to be an issue in the criminal justice system,with an imbalance in how justice is meted out, sometimes wrongfully.

With these facts in mind, one wonders why the clamor for the death penalty continues loud and long, even in questionable cases.  Realizing that witnesses can err, and providing research on the subject, may help the system make modifications so that wrongful convictions do not occur.  Knowing that an error identifying the wrong person can lead to that wrong conviction, and eventually, the death penalty may allow the public to reconsider whether it is worth the risk that an innocent person spends years in prison or dies because of witness mistakes.

Jim Wallis reminds us of need for social and spiritual consistency

Jim Wallis at the World Economic Forum

Carol Forsloff---Often we hear someone arguing against abortion, while declaring their belief in the death penalty, which is why Jim Wallis admonishes people to look at their religious and social beliefs and determine if they are consistent.

Wallis is a Christian writer, speaker, political activist and founder of the magazine Sojourners.  His principal thesis is that Christians often do not act consistently in accordance with Christ's teachings.  He points out how that is especially true of the Christian right and that Democrats should not allow the right wing folks to own the territory of moral values.  He further notes how vital it is for everyone to be consistent with belief and practice.

The man who offers this advice on consistency, Jim Wallis,  is married to the Rev. Joy Carroll, who was one of the first female priests in the Church of England.  One of his well known books on the topic of religion and politics is entitled On God's Side.


That lack of consistency people have spills over into every arena of life.  As a people we talk about the value of living a healthy life, yet we eat ourselves to death.  We admonish our children to be honest yet cheat on our taxes.  We talk about having an open mind yet won`t read anything with which we disagree.  And we weep over the poor in the world but walk down the street and avert our eyes when we see the homeless on the streets.

Wallis tells us to live courageously, take charge of our words and behaviors, and be honest with ourselves and live in accordance with our beliefs in a consistent way.

His ideas make for good contemplation on a Sunday.  But for all the rest of the week they make sense as good practice.

Scheduled execution amid the lessons of forgiveness

[caption id="attachment_7102" align="alignleft" width="163" caption="Mark Stroman"][/caption]

Carol Forsloff - While some victims’ families long for justice with the severest punishment at times, others approach their grief with forgiveness as a Muslim man has done for a man scheduled to be executed  today.

After 9/11 Mark Anthony Stroman, 41,  a Dallas stonecutter, became enraged about the terrorism he believed would spread so he shot three people, killing two of them: Vasudev Patel,  a Hindu immigrant, and Waqar Hasan, a Pakistani-born Muslim.  The third victim, Rais Bhuiyan, a former Bangladesh Air Force pilot, was shot in the face at close range, but survived.

Stroman is to be executed July 20 at 7 pm EST for the shooting deaths, while Bhiuyan has pleaded for the life of the man who is scheduled to die for the hate crime committed after the terrorist bombing incident in New York on 9/11/2011.

A third shooting victim, Rais Bhuiyan, 37, a former Air Force pilot from Bangladesh, survived after Mr. Stroman shot him in the face at close range. Mr. Stroman admitted to the shootings.

Bhuiyan was blinded in his left ey in order to plead the case of the main who shot him.  He has also personally met with officials in Texas to prevent the election.

During an interview with the Death Penalty Organization, Bhuiyan discussed his concerns and what happened the day he was shot.   He said when Stroman came into the store where Bhuiyan was working as a clerk.  Stroman had asked, “Where are you from” before shooting Bhuiyan with a double barrel gun.   After describing the pain of the shooting and his fear before being shot, Bhuiyan continued, “Then he left the store. I could not believe he shot me. I thought I was dreaming, going through a hallucination. I didn’t do anything wrong. I was not a threat to him. I couldn’t believe someone would just shoot you like that.”  Even then Bhuiyan said he felt himself praying, realizing he was still alive and said, “ I was asking God, asking for forgiveness, saying I would do my best. Reciting verses from the Koran. I said I would dedicate my life to the poor. I felt my eyes were closing and it felt like my brain was shutting down slowly.

Before the execution Bhuiyan implored people to give Stroman a second chance and said he has trouble sleeping knowing that the killer of two other men will die for the crime before being able to make some sort of recompense.

The interviewer followed his telephone meeting with Bhuiyan than called STrroman and asked, “What do you think of Rais Bhuiyan’s efforts to keep you from being executed?”

Mr Stroman answered this: “Yes, Mr Rais Bhuiyan, what an inspiring soul...for him to come forward after what ive done speaks Volume’s...and has really Touched My heart and the heart of Many others World Wide...Especially since for the last 10 years all we have heard about is How Evil the Islamic faith Can be...its proof that all are Not bad nor Evil.”

“Not only do I have all My friends and supporters trying to Save my Life, but now i have The Islamic Community Joining in...Spearheaded by one Very Remarkable man Named Rais Bhuiyan, Who is a Survivor of My Hate. His deep Islamic Beliefs Have gave him the strength to Forgive the Un-forgiveable...that is truly Inspiring to me, and should be an Example for us all.

Rais Bhuiyan has made the following video that is being shown on websites asking for a moratorium of the scheduled execution.  In it he relates his story, how he was shot and what happened to him at the time and afterwards, as he pleads for Stroman’s life.

The Dallas News has joined others in asking that Stroman be spared execution. “Retribution, in fact, is one element of the death penalty that the Supreme Court has cited in allowing its use. With the victims of the Stroman spree now dropping the demand for retribution — vengeance, essentially — the state is left alone in seeking it. Moral authority, though, has fallen away.”

At the same time, people continue to ask for some sort of punishment for Casey Anthony, in the wake of the not guilty verdict in the trial where she had been accused of killing her tot, Caylee.   Many people hope for some sort of retribution for Caylee's death, and a penalty for the mother despite the jury verdict, blaming the members of the jury and People and looking at how the law can be changed in some way to prevent what they consider an unjust decision.

But those who support the peaceful way of managing feelings about hate and violence have been asked by the Texas Moratorium Network to join Bhuiyan and others in stopping the execution of Stroman by calling Governor Perry at 512 463 2000 or writing the governor using  a form on his website.  People were also told they could join a Facebook event page for a silent vigil with Bhuiyan.

One of the most famous examples of forgiveness occurred following the killing of six Amish girls by  Charles Carl Roberts in a one-room school in Pennsylvania in October 2006.  After authorities approached the area after being alerted that Roberts was holding ten girls at the school, intending to rape and potentially kill them, Roberts asked the girls to pray with him.  They did, and yet were still shot dead before Roberts shot himself with the same gun he used on the children.

The Amish community responded with public forgiveness, to the extent that they attended Roberts’ funeral and allowed the wife of the man who had killed their children to attend the funerals of some of the girls. Among many of the reports of Amish forgiving response was this statement by one of them, "Even though there has been this terrible thing [that has] happened, [we] don't need to think about judgment, [we] need to think about forgiveness and going on."

The Friends Journal points out how some of the media wondered in print and on television, in shock and amazement as many were at the level of forgiveness of the Amish, whether in fact replicating that in the rest of society might be foolhardy.  Others said it offered a unique opportunity for people to examine their hearts and consciences and see if there might be a better way than to seek death for death as retribution.

The Journal quotes the essay by Joan Chittister about applying that same forgiveness after 9/ll and perhaps it might be appropriate in the light of a pending execution to look at the level of forgiveness of Bhuiyan and the Amish in the way we manage our feelings and behaviors following such terrible crimes as child murders and 9/11.  As Chittister has said, deep down we have a chance to do the same.

Yet even as the Amish asked forgiveness and Bhuiyan pleaded for clemency from Governor Perry, Stroman was put to death at 9:53 pm, ET, according to a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

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The South remains the capitol of murder and imposition of the deathpenalty

Carol Forsloff - FBI Uniform Crime Report released on September 13 gave good news about the national murder rate that has dropped from 5.4 (per 100,000 of population) in 2008 to 5.0 in 2009, an 8.1% decrease.



Across the United States the murder rate has dropped, with the Northeast experiencing the highest decrease at 9%.  The Northeast at 3 to 4%continued to have the lowest murder rate in the country, while the South continued to have the highest (6.0, the only region above the national average).

In 2009, the South accounted for about 87% of the executions in the country. The other 13% of executions came from the Midwest, the region with the second-highest murder rate (4.6).

John Grisham, the famous novelist, now pleads for the life of Teresa Lewis, a 41-year-old grandmother... pleaded guilty to her part in the 2002 slayings of her husband and son-in-law in their rural home near Danville, which is located about 145 miles from Richmond, Virginia.  Belief.net reminds the public that she has a borderline IQ of 72.  Her two male co-conspirators were given life without parole.  

Gov. Bob McDonnell made his decision against a stay of execution for Lewis.  Her response is. "But I'm good." She responded this way to questions about her feelings the day before the scheduled execution, telling people that her love and closeness to Jesus makes a difference.  Family and supporters have said she has limited intelligence and was manipulated to participate in the killing by a male co-conspirator.

Deacon Grg Kandra, a Catholic priest, responds, "We can only pray about this, and pray that those who still have the power to decide this woman's fate will search their hearts -- and choose life."

If Lewis is executed as scheduled on Thursday she will be the first woman in five years to be executed, and will die by lethal injection in Virginia, a state in the South.