1,000 state-sanctioned murders

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, in December the U.S. will likely execute its 1,000th prisoner since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976.

What astonishes me most is that a majority of Christians still support the death penalty, despite the fact that it eliminates the possibility of conversion and reconciliation, and despite the fact that Jesus was, like so many in this country, unjustly executed.

Though we may agree that certain crimes "deserve" death, can't we also agree that we are in no position to take on that responsibility? Do we really think anyone is helped to find closure with another brutally violent act?

And how are we ever going to convince people that human life should be protected from an embrionic stage when we won't insist that a fully grown person, guilty or not, should also have her or his life preserved?