Dead Man Walking

Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty That Sparked a National Debate by Sister Helen Prejean

Amazon Description:

“In 1982, Sister Helen Prejean became the spiritual advisor to Patrick Sonnier, the convicted killer of two teenagers who was sentenced to die in the electric chair of Louisiana’s Angola State Prison. In the months before Sonnier’s death, the Roman Catholic nun came to know a man who was as terrified as he had once been terrifying. She also came to know the families of the victims and the men whose job it was to execute—men who often harbored doubts about the rightness of what they were doing.
Out of that dreadful intimacy comes a profoundly moving spiritual journey through our system of capital punishment. Here Sister Helen confronts both the plight of the condemned and the rage of the bereaved, the fears of a society shattered by violence and the Christian imperative of love. On its original publication in 1993, Dead Man Walking emerged as an unprecedented look at the human consequences of the death penalty. Now, some two decades later, this story—which has inspired a film, a stage play, an opera and a musical album—is more gut-wrenching than ever, stirring deep and life-changing reflection in all who encounter it."

My Thoughts:

I love to read passionate words on controversial issues. The death penalty is one of those ethical issues that has so many variables. Is it right? Is it wrong? Can anyone even make that determination? It is not a black or white issue and if anyone makes it out to be they are missing the point. You can look at it from the perspective of the victims, the perspective of the perpetrators, the perspective of religion, the perspective of law and justice…so many variables.  

A note on Sister Prejean, who takes the perspective of religion from the above list—She is trying to change the world through her beliefs. I love the conviction she shows to the religion she has chosen. Prejean is a Christian that I admire and, sadly, I have met very few like her. People like her are rare in today's world.

My feelings on the death penalty are varied—seeming to lean mostly on the fairness/justice spectrum. One quote to share along these lines: “Millard says the application of the death penalty is like a lottery because such a small percentage of murderers get the death penalty—1 or 2 percent of the thousands who commit homicide every year. And of those receiving death sentences, only a fraction are executed…Finally, Millard says, summing it all up, race, poverty and geography determine who gets the death penalty.” If it could be applied fairly would it be more ethical? Then my mind moves to the religious perspective…in my mind I never come down firmly, for or against. But I do lean toward being against…as an ethical matter.