Euthanasia, Death Penalty, Catholics & Hypocrisy

Letter to Romans: Dutch euthanasia of teen in “unbearable psychological pain” sparked debate over hypocrisy on abortion, death penalty & protecting the sick, while polls show few US Catholics oppose BOTH abortion & capital punishment. Can’t speak for other Catholics, but here’s why I vote “Nay” & “Yea.”

Today’s woke society & CHAT GPT would have you believe there’s a simple answer for everything. Well, CHAT may have an answer for everything, but my experience in communicating with IT on legal research has seldom been “simple.” The one thing MOST folks & AI seem able to agree on is the CATHOLIC CHURCH, has a COMPLEX answer for everything. So can the flock. So why did I just vote “Nay” to abortion? Well, I think it’s hard to think of a clearer message from the Bible than “Thou shalt not kill.” And Jesus Christ couldn’t have been blunter than when warning He’s prepared a special place in hell for anyone harming “one of these little ones” who can’t protect themselves. And given the totality of His teachings, it’s inconceivable He’d grant an exception for conceived fetuses, other than by rape or ones with serious or deadly ills. Only twisted medical science says the unborn aren’t human until they exit mom’s womb. Even less persuasive to me is the logical summersaults the US Sup Ct’ did in suggesting a fetus miraculously has legal rights at some calendar week.

So why, if I’m so big on the sanctity of human life, did I also vote “Yea” to the death penalty? As a Catholic who’s repeatedly read the Bible cover to cover, it seems undeniable that the wrath of God has often struck down evil among us. Jesus said & did a lot about yielding to Caesar’s law to not only save us sinners' souls by yielding to crucifixion, but to serve justice & fight evil. The great theologian, St. Augustine, was also clear that “just wars” or murder to prevent evil can be justified. I’d also argue the death penalty is anything but constitutionally “Cruel or Unusual Punishment.” Throughout the world executions have historically & widely been the PREFERRED method for punishing murderers … even some lesser offenders. But, I can’t think of anything “crueler” than to make a heinous murderer spend his or her remaining 30-60 YEARS on earth penned in an iron cage to ponder how evil they are. But that’s just hypocritical Catholic me.

Davd Soul