Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“If the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not restrained it, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.”
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, June 29, 2022
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Good fences make good neighbors, I guess. Now I’m all for accountability. If you’ve been warned that your ox has an aggressive streak and you don’t do anything about it, and then that ox kills someone, yes, it’s your fault. But execution?
Obviously I abhor capital punishment for any reason. As an attempt to deter crime, it’s proven not to work. As an attempt to put the “fear of God” into people—just cut it out, Moses. Accountability is so much more rich and nuanced than “Step out of line and we’ll kill you.” It involves recognizing our errors or irresponsibility. It involves making amends—making things right to the best of our ability, which leads to healing and wholeness for all parties, rather than just a sense of self-righteous satisfaction when the person who hurt you is stoned to death. Resorting to instant, arbitrary, and harsh punishment for a crime removes the humanity of everyone involved.
I am not, in any way, condoning crime. I am, however, challenging people to understand what, exactly, constitutes a crime, and then to see the person who may have committed a crime as a human being—beloved of God and deeply flawed as we all are—before calling for their heads.
What are my feelings about capital punishment? About criminal law in general?