Today, the Traddies have their undies in a knot because Pope Francis met with President Biden at the Vatican and didn't publicly bar him from receiving Holy Communion. According to Biden, the Pope informed him that he should continue to receive the Eucharist. Pope Francis is keenly aware what the bishops and cardinals like Burke, Tobin and Strickland think about this. One thing, however, they have been silent on and that is that the Catholic acting Attorney General of Oklahoma had an execution carried out last night that, from the accounts of eyewitnesses, was anything but humane.
Now, I know that the victims of those murdered by death row occupants didn't have any say in their own executions. But acknowledging that the death penalty should have no place in a society which claims to be civilized does not dismiss the victims or their grieving families. It simply says that we are only as good as the way we treat the most contemptible among us. Either we believe that only God has the right to take a human life or we don't. Innocence, or lack thereof, does not change God's love for any of us. When we act on the belief that murder deserves more murder, we are defying the dignity of each person made in God's image, however disfigured their appearance is by sin. We also lose sight their own image is often disfigured by sin.
Some theologians advocate the death penalty because they believe the compressed timeline imposed by a death sentence will hasten remorse. But what if the person on death row has no remorse because they're not guilty? With maximum security prisons, there is no threat of inmates escaping to kill again, so according to the catechism of the Catholic church, the death penalty's use in Oklahoma is immoral and a grave offense. But the Republican wing of the church that gives allegiance to someone like Donald Trump believes the opposite, because its conscience is not informed by faith.
As a former ICU nurse, I have administered my fair share of Midazolam, the drug that inmate John Grant received just before he began vomiting and convulsing. I never saw a reaction like the one described by the Associate Press reporter Sean Murphy, who witnessed the execution. This is not the first particularly inhumane execution carried out in Oklahoma but it won't stop O'Connor from seeking a similar fate for Julius Jones, who maintains his innocence but is scheduled for execution in November. It would not surprise me in the least to find that the syringe did not contain Midazolam at all. The Oklahoma AG who signed Grant's death warrant is directly responsible for what happened.
Don't hold your breath waiting for Burke or Tobin or Strickland to insist that O'Connor doesn't present himself for Holy Communion until he's made a sacramental confession and publicly expresses remorse for the scandal he committed. They prefer weaponizing the Body of Christ for Democrats and pretending that their concern for the dignity and sanctity of all human life doesn't only apply to the unborn, who make no demands of them. Which is just the way those who pretend to be shepherds but hate the smell of their flock like it.
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