There has been a huge and somewhat divisive debate in Australia in recent weeks over the proposed hanging execution of Nguyen Tuong Van in Singapore, scheduled for tomorrow. Let me say at the outset that I am opposed to capital punishment per se.
The young man concerned was attempting to smuggle heroine into Australia and has been incarcerated for two years, pending the 'completion' of his sentence. Drugs like heroine are a curse and ruin the lives of many people. They decimate communities and create huge ripples of misery. They invariably lead to other acts of criminality.
Yet the taking of any life by any authority as a matter of justice is the purest act of hypocrisy. The crime committed is redoubled by the state, who are de facto accomplices. The state becomes the murderer. There is no justice, merely retribution, justified by lofty, though frequently mendacious claims of protecting the community, upholding standards, defending the weak...etc.... That citizens buy this comes as no surprise. Is it any different to being conned by the advertiser or lured by the glossy magazine. Is it little more than a matter of scale?
The final comment is best left to someone who was unjustly executed and who recognised the frailty of human judgement. Jesus, when confonted by an angry crowd who desired to put a woman to death for adultery, simply said. 'Let he who without sin cast the first stone.' Naturally there were no takers.
Capital punishment is wrong. State sanctioned killing is never justified.
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