The Beautiful Life of Troy Davis

Tonight, Troy Davis was executed by lethal injection. There has been outrage over his execution, as many believed he was innocent of the crimes for which he was convicted. Others claimed he was justly condemned and believed he should die.

I do not wish to use this blog to enter the arguments over his guilt or innocence. However, I do believe that we should take time to consider how we think about life. A few years ago I preached with this in mind, and I raised the question regarding what it truly means to be pro-life.

Wait! Wait! Wait! If you are reading and thinking that this is just another lame, fundamentalist slam on people who believe in the rights of women to choose, please read on. I will say at the outset that I believe every human life is valuable, and I believe that all people - born and unborn - have a right to live their life (I hope you are still reading).

Spencer Perkins spoke toward this when he said, "To join demonstrations against abortion, I would need to know that you understand God’s concern for justice everywhere … It is not a simple, glib response, then when I must counsel an unwed teenager against an abortion, even though I believe with all my heart that abortion is morally wrong. I feel that if the love of Christ compels me to save the lives of children, that same love should compel me to take more responsibility for them once they are born.”

Today the term “pro-life” has become a synonym for “anti-abortion.” However, this term is rather incomplete. Sure, there are many men and women are against abortion, but should they really refer to themselves as pro-life? Having heard comments and seen attitudes from those who claim to be “pro-life” comments I have cause to think otherwise.

At the beginning of the second war in Iraq a parishioner said to me in our church’s building, “I hope we bomb the hell out of Iraq!” Another person I know once told me, “We should nuke North Korea and fry ‘em all.” Can a person who makes such hateful and vengeful comments about war that show little concern for mass loss of life truly call themselves pro-life?

Over the years many who claim to be pro-life make horrid comments about prisoners on death row. The news of execution is met with one-liners such as, “Good riddance you sick-o,” or “Fry baby fry!” When a person says such things can she continue to claim that she is pro-life?

And what can we say about racism? How ought we view hate speech and hate crimes against a person because of their sexual orientation? Many of these things happen by people and groups who claim to be pro-life? Can one degrade a human through words and actions and really claim she values life?

While anyone can say they care for the unborn that does not automatically mean they are pro-life. Especially when they speak about and treat human life with zero value and little concern. If we are to be truly pro-life then we must value all life, in all places, in all times, and in all circumstances. We must remember that all men and women are the image of a merciful, loving, forgiving, and compassionate God. Whether that person is guilty, innocent, a terrorist, an insurgent, an American, gay, straight, black, or white – it does not matter. There is no “them” there is only “us.”

Which means that when bloodlust and vengeance surge within someone and give birth to a desire to see someone die on death row or be obliterated by a bomb they no longer see that person as their equal. They have made a judgment about the value of life, and at that point cease to be pro-life. It is never our prerogative to assign value to human life; that was done when God “created humankind in his own image.”

So what are you? Just “anti-abortion?” Only “anti-war?” Are you “anti-death penalty?” While all of these things have merit, by themselves they are incomplete. We have to see that all life is beautiful, precious, and valuable. In the words of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin we must possess a “consistent ethic of life,” and learn to live with a seamless garment of life.

Regardless of what you think about the guilt of Troy Davis, his death is a tragedy for all us. He was a man created in the image of loving God. A God who believed his life was and is beautiful.