Richmond Times-Dispatch – Capital punishment: A Christian response?

By: Times-Dispatch Staff | Richmond Times Dispatch
Published: January 28, 2012
Craig Anderson

Every Sunday as I enter my church, I am greeted by a rendering of the crucified Christ upon the cross — a common image in many churches, in all its disturbing glory.

The cross upon which Christ was crucified is the dominant image of, for and about Christianity.

The cross and the crucifixion have several levels of meaning for Christians. On the most basic level, the image of the crucified Christ is an abject symbol of man’s inhumanity to man, as well as the horrific outcome of capital punishment. A man sentenced to death and nailed to a cross for a slow, painful, public death.

According to Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, capital punishment is on the decline across the country….