Whoa, whoa whoa...just stop right there. Calm down, this isn't about Terri Schiavo, or Tom DeLay, or Bill Frist, or any of those newsmakers.
This is about the death penalty, the reddest of red meat for the red states, and how a poll conducted by John Zogby that was released Monday shows that support by Roman Catholics in the U.S. for the death penalty has dropped below 50%. The poll results were released Monday, but as you likely know, the media has been covering over things in excess, and besides, a silly little poll about the death penalty surely isn't worth news coverage at all, is it?
more below the fold..
The simple line I chose to title this entry ccomes from Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C.
"For us, this is not ideology but respect for life. We cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing. We cannot defend life by taking life."
The Catholic Church announced a new program, the Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty. Marketing geniuses, they are not. It's not exactly a catchy title, and it doesn't really promote brand awareness. However, they announced the program with the release of the aforementioned poll. While past surveys put Roman Catholic support for the death penalty as high as 68 percent, the poll released last Monday showed that 48% of Catholic Americans supported it while 47% opposed it. 1,785 Catholics around the country were polled, with a 2.7% MoE. The options were 'strongly support', 'somewhat support', 'not sure', 'somewhat oppose', and 'strongly oppose'.
As you could probably surmise, the strongest support for the death penalty was found in the South, where 29% said they 'strongly support' the death penalty compared to a nationwide average of 20%. However, 29% in the South also said they 'strongly opposed' it. The poll found that greater opposition to the death penalty came from students in Catholic colleges and schools and from the most faithful attenders of Mass.
Reasons given for opposition were respect for life (23%, the most common), the Bible's "thou shalt not kill (22%), innocent people might be executed (17%) and unfair application (5%).
Now that I've given you what I've found (poll results and the quote from the Cardinal all taken from the "City & State" section of Tuesday's Houston Chronicle here in my lap) I'd like to tie this in to what we as progressives can do if we choose to make this an issue. It can't be an issue we take conservatives head on with, as it's largely a losing issue if you're on the side that I am on - adamantly against the death penalty. However, I believe there's a strong chance we can peel away support for the death penalty little by little. The Democratic Party has to be worried about the erosion of support from the Catholics in America, and this is an issue we can use. I am not religious, but if I was, my brain could not stand the hypocrisy involved in following the Ten Commandments, then frothing at the mouth for bloodlust as I rooted on the latest poor (literally) soul on his/her way to the death chamber.
You know, I suppose I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the death penalty in regards to Terri Schiavo. How does this relate?
You tell me...here's what I read a few minutes ago.
"Terri is in effect on death row. ... We're asking the governor for a stay of execution on Easter Sunday," said Larry Klayman, founder of the conservative legal group Judicial Watch.
Now, if you don't find something a little bit creepy, or a lot wrong with that statement, that's fine, but I find it inappropriate and highly offensive and I think it mocks anyone on Death Row. Surely, both Brothers Bush have sent enough to death row, and have gleefully done so. To use this barbaric form of punishment in a mocking way to garner support for Ms. Schiavo shows a complete lack of class, and dare I say it? A complete disrespect for life.
We can show our respect for life by not taking lives needlessly to fulfill a need for vengeance, and we can show our respect for life by supporting decisions we make while able to make those difficult decisions, as Ms. Schaivo apparently made so long ago.
Finally, I ask you, how can we as activists use this newfound "respect for life" the country allegedly has to gradually start the long process to pull back the death penalty and rid ourselves of the spectacle of retributive death? I confess, I haven't the foggiest idea, but I hope you do, and I'd love to hear them.