On Capital Punishment and the Case of Troy Davis
This article on Yahoo News caught my eye -
Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in the State of Georgia on Wednesday 7pm US Eastern Time.
The problem is there is an overwhelming upsurge of public sentiment to - at the very least - postpone capital punishment in the light of new developments in support of his case for the defense.
The prosecution is adamant. The defense is making last minute appeals. The public is becoming more and more anxiously divided on the issue.
But both the prosecution and the defense are integral elements of a justice system that must subscribe to unifying principles that safeguard a court's ability to preserve the peace of the state.
One of these principles are - the innocent must never be punished with the guilty.
My instant reaction is to agree with a suspension of the sentence. It is also the natural reaction of many other notable people including my Holy Father Benedict XVI.
I am a Roman Catholic Christian in private as well as in public. My faith has a lot to do with every aspect of my little life, its true - because if I had remained in my sin, if I had no Savior, I would not be speaking sense to you today.
It would be a grave miscarriage of justice if the court gives in to anger or the spirit of revenge or allow itself to become drawn into any political divisions that, having no place whatsoever in the consideration of these things, further deny the State and the community of the people their natural recourse to the remedy of law.
No one would deny justice to the victims and their families. Let there be no doubt that the causes of both Justice and Law serves their grievances first and foremost.
But to prevent the community from reaping further grief from what seems to be a reasonable doubt looming against the cause of justice, one must prove right to make this appeal to the government of Georgia to intervene and not make this doubt a permanent motion that would, in the interests of narrow-minded expediency, remove the peace of that State of the Union further away from the public trust.
And so I too find myself making this same appeal for the authorities in Georgia to intervene to suspend the execution of Troy Davis.
If the person is innocent and he is delivered to God guilty, the burden no longer lies with the innocent but with the community who condemn themselves with their blood.
This shall not go without repercussions.
Indeed, all human care and all legal means must be exhausted beyond reasonable doubt to make sure that the innocent is never punished with the guilty.
That the guilty should be punished without delay is a corollary of this first principle.
This is why capital punishment is never a remedy for failing to address the failures in the justice system of any nation - most of all, here in my native Philippines.
God bless the State of Georgia, God bless America and may the LORD prosper thy Republic that justice prevail for all thy peoples unto the last of their generations.
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Some more considerations on the Middle East Peace -
I reaffirm this once again. We must fully support President Obama's initiative to bring back on track the Middle East peace process. The political peace (distinct from the national peace) has the best chance of achieving itself under his watch.
It should be recognized that the protection of the Jewish-Majority nature of the undertaking of Country known as modern Israel is essential to preserve that Country's ability to decisively preempt another Holocaust and to defend the rights of the whole nation of Israel at home or abroad.
I say Jewish-Majority here because of the fact that in any undertaking of Country, there shall always be a minority and for this reason, the majority can not rule without justice and this justice is impossible if the minority of any undertaking of Country is not given full recognition as well as equal protection before the law. This must also be recognized.
Furthermore, the same exact thing must be expected of the nascent Palestinian undertaking of Country.
As a matter of fact, the 4th Cause applies to every undertaking of Country that draws its breath from the spirit of its own nation.
In this sense, Israel and Palestine shall be reciprocating unto each other greater and greater examples founded on good will instead of those descending cycles of ill will that have plagued and confused their peoples for a generation.
It must be conceded by both the State of modern Israel and the Palestinian Authority that the deadlock in the Middle East (along with whatever reasons, covert or overt, that have given this conflict the appearance of justice) can no longer be sustained in this new age.
Both nations must cross the Minimum of the Times - stop looking backward - and complete their remembrances under this present season of heaven.
There can be no other choice that will secure the long-term national success for both the nations of Israel and of Palestine than to make the choice for peace today while it is still today.
For peace is the craft of nations.
Both sides must be given an honorable exit strategy and an honest and dependable way of return for their common peoples out of this untenable state of division and away into unity and the promise of the new age...
that Peace may proceed from Jerusalem and good will spring up from the heart of our Asia to bring down from God in heaven the blessings of this new age for all our nations dreaming together of a better world for our common humanity, alelluia.
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Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.
Blindness