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Recognizing evil
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If all goes as planned, John Allen Muhammad, the D.C, sniper will today meet his Maker. He is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 9PM. That he should pay with his own life for the murders of at least ten innocent people during his reign of terror is right and just. Had he not been stopped, others, maybe many others, would have fallen victim to him. The man is evil incarnate, not to be judgemental.
Opponents of capital punishment often argue that for society to permit the taking of a human life as punishment is no more than state-sanctioned murder, a barbaric act of revenge. They argue that all life is sacred (except perhaps those yet unborn), that there is good in all of us (except Conservatives), and that one such as Muhammad can be rehabilitated. Perhaps. But why is it important? When all is said and done, murder and capital punishment are not the same. John Muhammad had his chance. He chose to become a murderer. Society is not responsible to do for him what he would not do for himself.
He murdered at least ten people people, and maimed at least thirteen others, just to see what would happen. His actions terrorized the Washington D.C.-Northern Virginia-Baltimore area for three weeks. Anyone who pulled into a gas station during that time would be lying if he said that the thought hadn't occured to him that he could be shot down at any moment without warning. That he may have been involved in additional murders as far west as Arizona only adds fuel to the argument for ending his life. He knew what he was doing.
If there is an injustice in the case of the D.C. sniper, it is that Muhammad's then-teenaged accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, was sentenced to life without parole. Because he was a teenager at the time, he apparently wasn't old enough to be aware of the full scope of his actions. He can still be a useful, productive member of society, even if he is a cold-blooded killer, and stupid to boot, opponents of capital punishment will contend. Really? How many license plates do we really need?
At the time of their arrest, Malvo was said to have been the shooter. Since then, Muhammad has been blamed. It makes no difference who did what. They are equally guilty. Each is as evil as the other. They should have suffered the same punishment. When he took the decision to do murder, Malvo was well beyond the age of reason , which, in my youth, the Catholic Church taught to be the age of seven years. He knew what he was doing as well as did Muhammad. They did what they did because that's what they wanted to do.
More than that, both of them denied that life is sacred, and blew people away as so many clay pigeons. Their victims weren't even people to them. They took turns playing God.
The key word in the term "capital punishment" is "punishment." That's what it is. The Founding Fathers acknowledged in the Declaration of Independence that "all men are endowed by our Creator with certain Inalienable rights." The first among those rights is "life," and because it comes from the Creator, it is, therefore, inherently sacred. It is priceless, irreplaceable, and they knew that once they took it, they couldn't give it back. The finality of death underlines life's sacredness.
The Fifth Commandment says, "Thou shalt not do murder." That means that God, Himself, has charged us to guard life's sacredness. That we have laws against murder verifies His charge. It is why John Muhammad must forfeit his own life. Besides, he won't be rising up from the ground to murder anyone else.
If there is hope for John Muhammad, it is that he will stand before God and explain his actions. God will listen. Perhaps he had a reason other than wanting to show young Malvo a good time. Let's hope so. To condemn a man to death is a weighty concept. It's not like sending him to the principal's office. There is nothing harder than to recommend a fellow human being for final judgement before Almighty God, to make the appointment for him, and to personally shove him into the elevator. Nobody wants that responsibility. Sometimes, however, it must be done.
Only God, Who is merciful, has the power to damn Muhammed to hellfire for all eternity. That alone should prove how just merciful He is.
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