Cheering the Death Penalty: Some Thoughts

For conservatives who believe that the death penalty is a just punishment, at least for the crime of murder, then it is somewhat understandable to applaud a state's willingness to refuse to bow to liberal objections against the death penalty.

The applause AFTER Rick Perry spoke was even more understandable, given the fact that he gave a fair summary of the conservative position on the matter.

From a Christian pro-life perspective, when someone unjustly takes away a person's life-- the most fundamental of human rights given by God-- that person forfeits his or her own right to life (Genesis 9:6) in the eyes of the law.

However, it is almost certainly inappropriate to applaud something like the death penalty. God Himself takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11) and the sheer amount of executions taking place in Texas points to the fact that there are some deep societal problems there that need to be addressed.