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| [PHOTO SOURCE: http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/in-loving-memory-of-chuck-colson.html] |
QUOTE: "It is because humans are created in the image of God
that capital punishment for premeditated murder was a perpetual obligation. The
full range of biblical data weighs in its favor. This is the one crime in the
Bible for which no restitution was possible (Numbers 35:31,33). The Noahic
covenant recorded in Genesis 9 ("Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man
shall his blood be shed. "Gen 9:6) antedates Israel and the Mosaic code;
it transcends Old Testament Law, per se, and mirrors ethical legislation that
is binding for all cultures and eras. The sanctity of human life is rooted in
the universal creation ethic and thus retains its force in society. The
Christian community is called upon to articulate standards of biblical justice,
even when this may be unpopular. Capital justice is part of that non-negotiable
standard. Society should execute capital offenders to balance the scales of
moral judgment."
[From "Capital Punishment: A Personal
Statement", by Charles W. Colson., a former opponent. He is spiritual
advisor and friend to numerous death row inmates and the Founder of Prison
Fellowship, the largest Christian ministry serving incarcerated prisoners.
Ph.703-478-0100.]
AUTHOR: Charles "Chuck" Wendell Colson (October 16, 1931 – April 21, 2012) was a Special Counsel to
President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973, and later a noted Evangelical
Christian leader and cultural commentator.
Once known as President Nixon's "hatchet man," Colson gained
notoriety at the height of the Watergate scandal, for being named as one of the
Watergate Seven, and pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for attempting to
defame Pentagon Papers defendant Daniel Ellsberg. In 1974, he served seven
months in the federal Maxwell Prison in Alabama as the first member of the
Nixon administration to be incarcerated for Watergate-related charges.
Colson became a Christian in 1973. His mid-life conversion to
Christianity sparked a radical life change that led to the founding of his
non-profit ministry Prison Fellowship and to a focus on Christian worldview
teaching and training. Colson was also a public speaker and the author of more
than 30 books. He was the founder and chairman of The Chuck Colson Center for
Christian Worldview, which is "a research, study, and networking center
for growing in a Christian worldview", and while he was alive included
Colson's daily radio commentary, BreakPoint, which was heard in its original
format on more than 1,400 outlets across the United States.
Colson received 15 honorary doctorates, and in 1993 was awarded the
Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, the world's largest annual award
(over US$1 million) in the field of religion, given to a person who
"has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual
dimension". He donated this prize to further the work of Prison
Fellowship, as he did all his speaking fees and royalties. In 2008, he was
awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President George W. Bush.
Please go to this previous blog post to read an article by Chuck
Colson.
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