Monday, 2-16-98----

IOWA:

Recently, after much thought and prayer, I decided to undertake a 7-day

water fast because, as a Christian, I find the death penalty the most

morally objectionable proposition ever to come before the Iowa

legislature.

Americans are rightfully appalled at the high level of crime infecting

our society. Particularly repulsive is the crime of murder. We ought

to be equally repulsed when our government proposes to murder the

murderer, especially in Iowa where our policy of life in prison without

parole for murderers amounts to a death sentence.

Moral unease with the death penalty is compounded by the fact that 25

Americans executed were later proven innocent. And since 1973, over 70

people have been released from death row after evidence of their

innocence emerged.

My fast is intended not so much as a protest but as a prayer. It is

intended to encourage legislators and the general public to ask

themselves whether reinstatement of the death penalty is morally

justifiable.

I do not wish to coerce but to plead. I plead with allreligious people

to study their faith, scripture and tradition to learn what it has to say

about the death penalty. In particular, I plead with fellow Christians

to

open their hearts and Bibles and ask whether they can possibly imagine

Jesus Christ, himself a victim of capital punishment, presiding over an

execution. Nowhere in the Gospels do I find support for capital

punishment. In fact, Christ's message of love, forgiveness and

compassion indicates strong opposition to the death penalty.

I believe Jesus would want us to leave the final judgment of another

person's life to God and God alone. Only God is infallible. Only God

can ultimately determine human guilt or innocence. And only God should

decide when our time is up and our work is done.

As evidence in the recent attention on the execution of Karla Faye

Tucker, even the most brutal, ruthless murderer can achieve a total

personal and spiritual transformation. Tucker was fortunate enough to

find her way to God before the executioner lethally injected her. How

many other death penalty victims would have similarly converted had

only they been given the time?

This will surprise some people, but my decision to fast was, in part,

inspired by TV evangelist and former Republican presidential candidate

Pat Robertson. Robertson, who spoke in opposition to the execution of

Karla Faye Tucker, is now calling for 2 million Christians to fast for

spiritual renewal during Lent.

In an article in the Des Moines Register (Sunday, Feb. 8), Robertson

said fasting "is a way of coming before God and saying we really mean

business we're not just playing this time. We're not just saying our

prayers. We really honestly want to see the hand of God move."

I, too, mean business. I, too, want to see the hand of God move. I

want to see it move in the hearts and minds of the people o0f Iowa. I

feel so strongly about this issue that I'm willing to endure the risks

and discomforts of a fast in the hope that proponents of the death

penalty might realize a change of heart.

Perhaps through this simple act of prayer and penance, if enough people

come to see that capital punishment is wrong, it will be enough to

prevent future efforts to bring back the executioner.

(Ed Fallon of Des Moines is a Democratic state representative. His 7-day

fast ends today.)

(source: Iowa Gazette)