n and Christian church members dominate. The Christian, therefore, has a responsibility to call the state to higher standards of behavior and to ask the state to perform its task effectively and justly. Christians must call upon the state to consider the needs of both victims and offenders, to leave room for reconciliation and forgiveness to happen, and to limit the use of force. They must challenge the state to use its power appropriately, as God intended. The biblical perspective on the death penalty clearly has relevance to our society, leaving us with a series of critical questions: If the death penalty does not actually further the effort to maintain order, if it may actually interfere, is the state using its authority appropriately? When the state punishes arbitrarily and discriminatorily, especially with a penalty so final, is it carrying out its God-given role? When the state takes a life, is it performing a function that belongs to God? We Have Choices No logic shows that the death penalty is a necessary response to crime. No clear evidence supports any of the rationales given for the death penalty. Justifications for the death penalty are primarily moral, emotional and symbolic. Support for the death penalty may be a way of expressing our concerns about crime and order more than a reasoned conclusion. It may also reflect a lack of options or information about those options. Since the late 1960s, polls in the United States and Canada have shown public support for the death penalty by a majority of more than two to one. In at least one of these polls, most supporters of the death penalty said that they supported it because they believed capital punishment deters crime. But over half of those who do would still support the penalty even if it were not more effective than prison sentences in deterring crime. Yet polls also suggest that the public would prefer other alternatives that provide safety and restitution when these options...
