On Capital Punishment

On Wednesday, the Episcopal Peace Fellowship offered the General Convention the opportunity to pray a litany at the stations of their Wall of Injustice.  One such station, for Capital Punishment, included the picture above and the following prayers.

Leader: We stand before this Wall of Injustice in solidarity with all men and women condemned to a state sanctioned death. Based on our understanding of Jesus Christ’s call to redemption, love and mercy, we reject retribution or collective vengeance as a reason for taking human life. Will you work and pray for the abolition of capital punishment in our country? 

People: We will, with God’s help

.

Leader: We stand before this Wall of Injustice recognizing that capital punishment is an expensive, racist, classist, error-prone, system with no internal consistency. While we give thanks for the 154 exonerated men and women whose lives have been spared since 1973, we rend our hearts over the 1 in 25 innocent individuals who remain on death row. Will you pray for all who are imprisoned on death row, that their lives may be spared?

People: We will, with God’s help.

Leader: We stand before this Wall of Injustice remembering that Jesus Christ was a victim of cruel and unusual capital punishment, and even in the midst of his agonizing death, he was not overcome by hatred. Will you reach out to civic leaders, urging them to respect every human life by ending the use of the death penalty?

People: We will, with God’s help.