The Death Sentence
There is currently a debate happening on the Christian Place Forums in regards to Saddam Hussein’s death sentence. While I’ll be the first to agree that he has committed terrible and horrifying atrocities, I do not believe that the death sentence is the answer.
Did Saddam’s actions warrant the United States taking military efforts to stop him? The short answer, yes. A man who massacres, rapes, and tortures thousands of innocent people certainly needs to be brought to justice. (I won’t go into the gruesome details of his many crimes here. If you’d like to learn more about them, click this link)
The day Mr. Hussein’s sentence was announced I saw posts all over the internet (on Christian Forums, I might add) exclaiming the “good news”, followed with specific details on how he should be tortured first. This made me sick. The death of any man, no matter what he has done, is nothing to celebrate. This also brings up another question – Why does the World want him dead so badly? Is it really because it is the “right” course of action, or does it originate from a desire to have revenge for all the people he has hurt?
We went to war with Iraq to save lives. The threat that Saddam once represented is no more. Why the need to kill Saddam, thus making him a martyr to all terrorists? Why not give him life imprisonment, and let him reflect on everything he has done? He may even repent his sins and accept Jesus as his Savior. Is it such a terrible thing to give him that chance?
Remember that all of us have sinned and deserve to be sent to hell. Jesus came and died for those sins so we could ALL have a second chance. That means everyone; not just those who we consider to be “good” or “decent” people.
On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” — Mark 2:17
EDIT: My thanks to “Feathin” for reminding me of the verse above.
