By David Brennan
AS I am writing this column, Australia is in agony waiting for a resolution to the question of whether two young men, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukamaran, will be executed in Indonesia.
At this moment it seems horribly likely that they will face a firing squad. Australian citizens and politicians have been bombarding the Indonesian President with pleas for mercy. By the time you read this column, we will know what the outcome was.
The Church takes a strong position against the death penalty. In 2007, the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council (ACSJC) published “Confronting the Death Penalty: People, politics and principle” as one of our Catholic Social Justice Series papers.
Looking at it once more, it seems as relevant today as it was then. If you are looking for an authoritative and readable resource on this subject, I recommend it highly.
Australia does not impose the death penalty and has passed laws to ensure that no Australian state ever will.
We took that decision for important reasons.
There is no evidence that the death penalty deters crime any more than imprisonment does; there is always the risk that someone might die for a crime they did not commit; and when the punishment is carried out, it reduces the state to the same level of brutality as the criminal.
Punishment has three purposes: deterrence, retribution and rehabilitation (what Christians would call conversion). The death penalty embraces retribution but turns its back on rehabilitation.
That last argument is an important one for Christians because the life and teachings of Jesus show us that every human is capable of changing his or her life and finding a way of living as God intends.
But there is yet another issue for Christians – the most important of all when considering the death penalty.
Human life is sacred, and that sacredness is founded in the deep love of God for every one of us. The death penalty violates that very sacredness. In imposing the death penalty, the state presumes to take a God-given life.
Andrew and Myuran are extraordinary examples of rehabilitation.
Each in his own way found a path to conversion: Andrew in his journey to Christianity, Myuran in his exploration of his art, and both, most importantly, in their quiet witness and leadership.
The paths of conversion these two men have taken have been an essential element in the appeals for clemency addressed to the Indonesian President.
One particularly inspiring appeal came jointly from Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney and the Grand Mufti of Australia Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed.
Their voices combined to affirm the essential holiness of life, the possibility of forgiveness, and the contribution that even convicted criminals can make to our society.
Whatever decision the Indonesian authorities made about these two men, Australians have once more been reminded of the profound value of every life.
We should remember that Andrew and Myuran were not the only ones in this terrible situation.
As this is being written, we pray for them and for their companions and hope in the grace of God.
David Brennan is the editing and publications officer of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council.
