Dr Orville Taylor, Contributor

AND THE Lord said, "In my name shalt thou slay the murderers and my apostles shall execute my will." If pastors can speak as if they were 'worldians', then, why can't I invent a passage of scripture? There is nothing in the teachings of Jesus Christ that advocates the death penalty and I am tired of blind Christians using pieces of the Old Testament to support this.

Last week, an exuberant Pastor Terrence Brown, with little evidence that he had "thought out seriously, considering also biblical facts," had one of those above-the-knee-jerk reactions, going so far as volunteering for the job of hangman. As a younger man of the clergy, he can be excused, but when elder Bishop Ronald Blair joined him, that was another matter. Add to them the ubiquitous 'prophet' Reverend Al Miller, who has had his bouts of "foot-in-mouth disease," and we have a problem.

Miller in particular, is offensive in referring to those who say that the death penalty is no deterrent as 'dunces'. As one who goes with the scientific and survey evidence, I have to say that Miller is outside of his field of competence and if I may borrow an expression from the man of the cloth, he is provoking me to wrath.

Mosaic Law

Ironically, pastors who ignore the Sabbath, eat pork, consume shellfish and cohabit with menstruating wives, conveniently extricate a piece of the law that God gave to Moses to justify the argument that we should kill. Mosaic law is very explicit in regard to the range of sins for which one can be slain by the state. These include adultery, blasphemy and homosexuality. Moses himself declared "an eye for an eye". Tell me, is Mahatma Mohandas Ghandi greater than Jesus in his wisdom? Ghandi warned, as he was introducing his lesson of non-violent resistance to the cruelty of the British colonists, "An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind."

Jesus gave two simple commandments: Love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and second, love your neighbour as yourself. When he was faced with the unchristian prospect of enforcing Mosaic law and allowing the woman to be stoned for her sin, he dared the Jews to cast the first stone, thus releasing her. Islamic law, which can cite death for declaring that Jesus is God incarnate was, unfortunately, used by Miller to show that executions do deter in Muslim states. If our apostles of Jesus our Lord and Saviour don't follow the scriptures well enough to know that the new covenant does not support revenge killing by anyone, including the state, then they can hardly expect to appreciate scientific evidence that they are not trained to analyse. If Reverend Miller truly believes in Jesus' second commandment of treating others as we want to, then surely he will happily accept the self-appointed label of 'dunce.'

Nevertheless, unlike many of my colleagues in academia and those among the human-rights advocates, I believe that the death penalty has its place in a society like Jamaica. However, the image of being hanged like an animal carcass from the 'gyallas' does not scare criminals, especially this hardened set of youth who have not lived long enough to appreciate the value of human life.

What terrifies them is the same instrument that they are using to commit mayhem: the gun. They fear detection and apprehension. If they feel that people will inform on them and the police will come for them, that may deter them from committing murder. Most murderers kill because they do not have any belief that they will be caught.

Removing unrepentant murderers

However, executions do remove unrepentant murderers from active duty, and only Count Dracula and Blackula return from the grave to kill. Still, all of this is fantasy and it is perhaps because we are in the week leading up to Halloween.

It is bad enough when politicians try to get a 'forward' like the irresponsible entertainers, who sing deprecating lyrics and work crowds into a frenzy. It is reproachable when pastors speak as ordinary citizens but pass it off as an ecclesiastical dictate when preaching 'ex cathedra' from the pulpit. Such utterances must be rendered unto Caesar.

Reinstating the death penalty requires an overhaul of the justice system. Given the issues with the police and evidence, we cannot hurry persons to the noose. Most of those who push for no-bail detentions and the death penalty have never had innocent relatives charged for murder. Furthermore, the police need more capital, research and technological support to help catch the crooks.

EU shares opinion

In any event, the same British government, that has lent us its cops and given us a model of non-charge and non-bail detention, opposes the death penalty and wants us to decriminalise homosexuality. Its colleagues in the European Union share the same opinion. Glenys Kinnock, co-chair of the African, Caribbean and Pacific/European Union Parliamentary Assembly, asserted in 2005: To take a life in that way is not the way to set an example as a state ... It's a fundamental issue for the European Union." Our political leaders must be honest; if we hang, we are in trouble.

Speaking of international treaties, why is the debate on a workplace policy for HIV/AIDS still on? We are members of the International Labour Organisation, which in 2001, outlined a Code of Practices on HIV/AIDS. As indicated two years ago, Section 4.2 of the code outlaws "discrimination or stigmatisation of workers on the basis of real or perceived HIV status", and Section 4.6 states, "HIV/AIDS screening should not be required of job applicants or persons in employment."

Let's stop wasting time; we have a country to run.

Dr Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at UWI, Mona. Feedback may be sent to orville.taylor@uwimona.edu.jm.