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.
