Today is
Friday, April 17, 2015, and I bid you a warm welcome as we take a moment to visit. Last Tuesday was the 150th anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. I am typically not up too late in the evening but I did notice that a live re-enactment was being broadcast on CSPAN. I watched it for about an hour. There were historians interviewed. The actors wore period costumes and some of them took on the roles of those who were first hand witnesses to all that had happened. The running feed showed several hundred people who had gathered at Ford's Theater where the President was shot by John Wilkes Booth at 10:15 p.m. on Good Friday, April 14, 1865. The mortally wounded President was moved from the theater across the street to a boarding house, the Peterson House, where he breathed his last at 7:22 the next morning. Watching these remembrance ceremonies was very moving. The Civil War had just concluded and the people in Washington D.C. were jubilant. When this event occurred, great panic, anguish, and unrestrained grief broke out among the citizenry. It was a most trying time for our nation. Many of those who attended the commemoration last Tuesday evening were to be there all night waiting outside the Peterson House on word of the President's fate, just like it had happened 150 years ago.
This week has also marked the 2nd anniversary of the Boston bombing incident that killed 3 and injured 264 others. The eldest of the two brothers guilty of this atrocity was killed during the pursuit after the bombing. The youngest has recently been convicted of multiple counts that do carry the potential for the death penalty to be assessed. Massachusetts does not have the death penalty. But this was a federal trial and the death sentence is still an option. Polls in the state indicate the majority do not want this young man to be executed. This case has spawned another round of debates over the use of the death penalty in our nation. I listened to several where the advocates for made their points and those opposed also had their say. It's pretty obvious that in its current sporadic usage there is not much in the way of a deterrent factor being achieved. This has to do with the way our legal system works and the years of appeals involved in death penalty cases. An example from this week: "HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A San Antonio man who fatally shot a SWAT team
member with the officer's own gun more than
14 years ago was executed
Wednesday, the sixth convicted murderer put to death in Texas so far
this year." See what I mean? Based on national polling, some 60% of our citizenry still supports this ultimate penalty. It has been in decline for a number of years from back in the 1980's when it was near 80%. I believe the problems experienced with the execution process itself, the numbers on death row who have been exonerated, along with media influence have combined to erode this support. As for me, I continue to believe there are committed crimes that deserve this sentence.
Freedom can be a dangerous proposition. People doing nothing more than showing up for a marathon in Boston found that out two years ago. In the case of these two brothers, there does appear to have been flags that might have helped prevent this attack had the appropriate steps been taken by our national security apparatus. They were not followed up on. Some are more than willing to give up freedom in exchange for a sense of feeling they are more secure, to the tune of spending trillions. However, we end up without the security we paid for along with the loss of freedoms. Once lost they likely will not be coming back anytime soon. That would be my closing throw down observation for the week. I am also reminded that true freedom is that which can only be found in Christ. We will be celebrating that truth as we meet together this upcoming Sunday. Until next time I do hope you enjoy your weekend and may God bless us all is my prayer.
Amen. ....More later.
No comments:
Post a Comment