Beginning the jouney of the shadow of the death penalty ....
In examining the Death Penalty from a Biblical perspective, it is first necessary to go back to the beginning of the formulative process. Stan does this in the second edition of "Cross-Wise With Stan."
Where to begin on such a complex and relevant issue such as the death penalty? It is an issue upon which Christians from all backgrounds can truly hold very sincere and genuine feelings, and back up those feelings on either side with scripture from the Bible, and yet can strongly disagree. It is an issue upon which through “proof texting” of the Bible one can justify their position either in favor of or against the death penalty. With the reality of opposing views being justified from the same book, the Bible … the Hebrew scriptures joined with the Christian scriptures, … perhaps in this case it is again imperative to state that the journey we are about to venture into together is my personal journey … that was guided both through practical real time experiences and a deep desire to attempt to discern what God would have a Christian such as I undertake as one of his children, who is after all a brother to all of God’s children throughout the world Thus, with that reminder, lets begin at almost always the best place to begin, the beginning …
Perhaps some of you can remember the “Perry Mason” television show. It was in its time the “Law and Order” of television in the early sixties. Perry Mason was a high powered yet humble criminal defense attorney of the people. Extremely honest, ethical, upright, highly intelligent, persistent, a devotee to detail, and one not averse to taking a risk in the courtroom … Perry Mason was the exemplary epitome of a trial attorney in the courtroom.
I remember as a young child being glued to the television set as Mr. Mason seemed to in case after case be beset with an impossible to prevail upon set of facts and a turn of circumstances that always left his back up against the wall in defending his often poor, naïve, deer in the headlights client. One knew, one just knew, however, that within the last five minutes of each show that Perry under a grueling cross-examination would succeed in trapping and persuading the “true killer” to make a stunning courtroom admission of culpability from the witness stand.
Rarely happens in real life, yes we know … but it always happened, week after week in Mason’s world. Despite our knowing what path the trail would wind down before ending up in a dramatic courtroom admission of guilt each week, we still gasped in amazement as to how yet once again Perry Mason could snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat. Even the most “law and order” among us had to admire the cool, calm demeanor and upright character of Mason as he championed the innocent and fought for justice. This real view of unreality was the feed stock of my young eyes and ears as I began to admire one of the venues of ultimate theater … the live and unrehearsed recreation in the courtroom of heinous and blood curdling crimes. As a child I thrived on “Perry Mason.”
What was it that drew me to that show?
In retrospect, I believe what appealed to me was Perry Mason’s calm in the face of the storm while truly championing the cause of the underdog wrongly accused, and through his scrupulous righteous without being righteous life standing up for and fighting for true justice against all odds on behalf of the down cast. Now as a young child I never thought in those terms. In truth and in short, I just thought Mason was so cool in the face of battle … and … he was the good guy.
Thus began my initial attraction to the theater of the courtroom, a viewing of the courtroom as a locale where wrongs were righted. Thus began an odyssey of a sirens attraction to the courtroom … not the law … the courtroom … one of the ultimate stages.
Stan
In examining the Death Penalty from a Biblical perspective, it is first necessary to go back to the beginning of the formulative process. Stan does this in the second edition of "Cross-Wise With Stan."
Where to begin on such a complex and relevant issue such as the death penalty? It is an issue upon which Christians from all backgrounds can truly hold very sincere and genuine feelings, and back up those feelings on either side with scripture from the Bible, and yet can strongly disagree. It is an issue upon which through “proof texting” of the Bible one can justify their position either in favor of or against the death penalty. With the reality of opposing views being justified from the same book, the Bible … the Hebrew scriptures joined with the Christian scriptures, … perhaps in this case it is again imperative to state that the journey we are about to venture into together is my personal journey … that was guided both through practical real time experiences and a deep desire to attempt to discern what God would have a Christian such as I undertake as one of his children, who is after all a brother to all of God’s children throughout the world Thus, with that reminder, lets begin at almost always the best place to begin, the beginning …
Perhaps some of you can remember the “Perry Mason” television show. It was in its time the “Law and Order” of television in the early sixties. Perry Mason was a high powered yet humble criminal defense attorney of the people. Extremely honest, ethical, upright, highly intelligent, persistent, a devotee to detail, and one not averse to taking a risk in the courtroom … Perry Mason was the exemplary epitome of a trial attorney in the courtroom.
I remember as a young child being glued to the television set as Mr. Mason seemed to in case after case be beset with an impossible to prevail upon set of facts and a turn of circumstances that always left his back up against the wall in defending his often poor, naïve, deer in the headlights client. One knew, one just knew, however, that within the last five minutes of each show that Perry under a grueling cross-examination would succeed in trapping and persuading the “true killer” to make a stunning courtroom admission of culpability from the witness stand.
Rarely happens in real life, yes we know … but it always happened, week after week in Mason’s world. Despite our knowing what path the trail would wind down before ending up in a dramatic courtroom admission of guilt each week, we still gasped in amazement as to how yet once again Perry Mason could snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat. Even the most “law and order” among us had to admire the cool, calm demeanor and upright character of Mason as he championed the innocent and fought for justice. This real view of unreality was the feed stock of my young eyes and ears as I began to admire one of the venues of ultimate theater … the live and unrehearsed recreation in the courtroom of heinous and blood curdling crimes. As a child I thrived on “Perry Mason.”
What was it that drew me to that show?
In retrospect, I believe what appealed to me was Perry Mason’s calm in the face of the storm while truly championing the cause of the underdog wrongly accused, and through his scrupulous righteous without being righteous life standing up for and fighting for true justice against all odds on behalf of the down cast. Now as a young child I never thought in those terms. In truth and in short, I just thought Mason was so cool in the face of battle … and … he was the good guy.
Thus began my initial attraction to the theater of the courtroom, a viewing of the courtroom as a locale where wrongs were righted. Thus began an odyssey of a sirens attraction to the courtroom … not the law … the courtroom … one of the ultimate stages.
Stan
Looking good, Stan. Keep going!
ReplyDeleteWell done, Stan. Keep going!
ReplyDelete