A Social Statement on: THE DEATH PENALTY

This social practice statement was adopted by a more than two-thirds majority vote at the second biennial Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, meeting in Orlando, Florida, August 28-September 4, 1991.

A Climate of Violence

Violent crime is as ancient as the human family.  Since Cain slew Abel, the blood of countless victims has cried out to the Lord (Genesis 4:10).  Our hearts, too, cry out tothe Lord who gives life.  We grieve with the family and friends of the victim—the violated one.

Violent crime has a powerful, corrosive effect on society.  Bonds of trust, the very assumptions that allow us to live our lives in security and peace, break down.  Instead of loving, we fear our neighbor.   We especially fear the stranger.

The human community is saddened by violence, and angered by the injustice involved.  We want to hold accountable those who violate life, who violate society.  Our sadness and anger, however, make us vulnerable to feelings of revenge.  Our frustration with the complex problems contributing to violence may make us long for simple solutions.

Such are the circumstances under which we, as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, speak to the death penalty.  At the request of a number of congregations to synod assemblies, and in response to the memorials of those synods, the 1989 Churchwide Assembly placed the issue of the death penalty on the church’s social agenda.  Discussions on the death penalty then took place in local churches and at synodical and regional hearings.

Points of View

Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have different points of view with regard to social issues.  While the Spirit makes us one in our faith in the Gospel, we can and do vary in our responses to the Gospel.

While we all look to the Word of God and bring our reason to the death penalty issue, we can and do assess it with some diversity.  Social statements of our church do not intend to end such diversity by binding members to a particular position.  Social statements acknowledge diversity and address members in their Christian freedom.

This church has not finished its deliberation on the death penalty.  Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America continue the deliberation, upholding together the authority of Scripture, creeds, and confessions; the value of God-given life; and the commitment to serve God’s justice.  Members continue their discussion, knowing they have in common the goals of justice, peace, and order.

As a church united in resistance to hate (Luke 6:27), we minister to an often vengeful society.  As a Church united in joy over the good news of God’s healing grace, we minister to a battered society.   As a church heeding the call to do justice (Jeremiah22:3), we minister to a broken society.  As a church united for mission, we organize forministries of restoration.

An Affirmation

On the basis of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions we hold that, through the divine activity of the Law, God preserves creation, orders society, and promotes justice in abroken world.  God works through the state and other structures of society necessary for life in the present age.

The state is responsible under God for the protection of its citizens and the maintenance of justice and the public order.  God entrusts the state with power to take human life when failure to do so constitutes a clear danger to society.

However, this does not mean that governments have an unlimited right to take life.  Nor does it mean that governments must punish crime by death.  We increasingly question whether the death penalty has been and can be administered justly.

Ministries of Restoration

Lutheran theological tradition has maintained that society is ruled by the Law and is influenced and nourished by the Gospel.  Renewed by the Gospel, Christians, as the salt ofthe earth (Matthew 5:13) and the light of the world (Matthew 5:14), are called to respond to violent crime in the restorative way taught by Jesus (Matthew 5:38-39) and shown by hisactions (John 8:3-11).

For the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, following Jesus leads to a commitment to restorative justice.  This commitment means addressing the hurt of each person whose life has been touched by violent crime.  Restorative justice makes the community safer forall.

It is because of this church’s ministry with and to people affected by violent crime that we oppose the death penalty.  Executions focus on the convicted murderer, providing very little for the victim’s family or anyone else whose life has been touched by the crime.  Capital punishment focuses on retribution, sometimes reflecting a spirit of vengeance.  Executions do not restore a broken society and can actually work counter to restoration.

This church recognizes the need to protect society from people who endanger that society: removing offenders from the general population, placing them in a secure facility, and denying them the possibility of committing further crime (i.e.,incapacitating them).  Our challenge is to incapacitate offenders in a manner that limits violence, and hold open the possibility of conversion and restoration.

Doing Justice

Christians live in anticipation of the day when justice roll[s] down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream (Amos 5:24).  In the meantime, God holds governments accountable to ensure justice.   In a democracy, where government is by the people, justice is the responsibility of all citizens.

Violent crime is, in part, a reminder of human failure to ensure justice for all members of society.   People often respond to violent crime as though it were exclusively a matter of the criminal’s individual failure.  The death penalty exacts and symbolizes the ultimate personal retribution.

Yet capital punishment makes no provable impact on the breeding grounds of violent crime.  Executions harm society by mirroring and reinforcing existing injustice.  The death penalty distracts us from our work toward a just society.  It deforms our response to violence at the individual, familial, institutional, and systemic levels.  It perpetuatescycles of violence.

It is because of this church’s commitment to justice that we oppose the death penalty.  Lutheran Christians have called for an assault on the root causes of violent crime, an assault for which executions are no substitute.  The ongoing controversy surrounding the death penalty shows the weaknesses of its justifications.  We would be a better society by joining the many nations that have already abolished capital punishment.

Commitments of This Church

As a community gathered in faith, as a community dispersed in daily life, as a community of moral deliberation, and as a church body organized for mission this church directs its attention to violent crime and the people whose lives have been touched by it.

As a community gathered in faith:

we welcome victims of violent crime and their families, standing with them and for them during their times of grief and anger;

we welcome offenders and their families, supporting them in their recovery;

we welcome partnership with faith communities within the correctional system, joining them in ministries of restoration;

we welcome people who work in criminal justice and their families, recognizing the special burden that accompanies such work.

As a community dispersed in daily life:

we continue to offer ministries of healing and reconciliation to victims of violent crime, to families of victims, and to neighborhoods that have experienced violence;

we recognize and affirm ministries by those who, in word and action, announce the good news to the imprisoned and their families;

we seek further opportunity to serve people caught in cycles of violence, and call for training to respond to the fear and anger of individuals, families, and society.

As a community of moral deliberation:

we invite and encourage moral deliberation on the causes and effects of criminal behavior, the function of punishment, and the role of the criminal justice system—a deliberation grounded in Scripture and informed by reason and knowledge, including thesocial sciences;

we shall discuss criminal justice in connection with other issues of concern to this church, such as racism, poverty, abuse, and chemical dependency;

we ask that available resource materials be distributed, and that a resource specific to the present statement be developed, printed, and distributed.

As a church organized for mission:

we recognize that the government bears responsibility for protecting people, and give it our support in the exercise of this function;

we commend public officials, and others, who shape the vision of a just society and work toward it;

we know the Church is called by God to be a creative critic of the social order, and to speak on behalf of justice, peace, and order;

we urge the abolition of the death penalty, and support alternative and appropriate punishment for capital crime, including the possibility of life sentence without parole;

we call for an ongoing reform of the criminal justice system, seeking means of incapacitation that protect citizens while limiting violence and holding open the possibilities for conversion and restoration, and for education for future responsible citizenship in society;

we direct state public policy offices and the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs to work against the death penalty and for alternative and appropriate punishment for capital crime, such as imprisonment for natural life;

we ask congregations, synods, agencies, and institutions of this church to support the work of state advocacy offices and the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs in effecting the abolition of the death penalty;

we seek ways to work with our ecumenical partners, with other faith groups, and with other organizations with similar goals.

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

8765 West Higgins Road

Chicago, IL 60631