Should the Parkland Shooter Have Been Put to Death or Not?

 Recent news stories on TV have left me feeling a wild mix of emotions, and a clashing of values I hold dear. The stories I'm referring to are those concerning the recent sentencing of Nikolas Cruz, the Parkland, Florida shooter who killed 17 people at a school. 

Long before I was sentenced to prison for my own crime, I philosophically opposed the death penalty. Although I am a Christian, and some professing Christians are the most ardent supporters of it, I believe the death penalty is contrary to Jesus' teachings in scripture. Some people argue that Old Testament laws included the "lex talionis," the eye for an eye, life for a life principle. True, but this principle, common in ancient Near East societies, was designed to limit punishments, not to proscribe them. 

Furthermore, my opposition to the death penalty is informed largely by Jesus' New Testament teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. He specifically turned lex talionis on its head, teaching us to use mercy and forgiveness as our guiding principles, not a punishment limiting principle. 

I do believe people should be held responsible for the harms they cause, but correction and restoration should be our goal, not retribution and revenge. Yet, some cases, some crimes, are so heinous that correction and restoration seem like a fantastical goal. Some crimes are so horrifying that they almost cry out for eliminating the source of the harm. 

Such is the case with Nikolas Cruz. My compassion for the families of the 17 people he killed in cold blood, and for others whose lives were irrevocably changed that day, cries out for justice. Even when I believe true justice seeks restoration of victims and offenders to wholeness. Some things can never be restored. Only retribution seems a fitting response to such horror. But it goes against all I believe and hold dear. 

So, I find myself in a philosophical, and perhaps even theological, quandary. It is what psychologists call cognitive dissonance. My compassion is bumping against itself. Though loathsome to some people, I have compassion for Nikolas Cruz. I don't know what causes someone to choose to murder others, especially children, but something must be seriously broken in him, and that drives me to have compassion for him. 

Yet, my deep compassion for the families he devastated, for all they lost and can never regain...it leaves me feeling deeply troubled. Even if our prison system were able to help Cruz get to the root of his troubled psyche and emotions (a task I seriously doubt they are capable of), it could never undo the devastation he caused. It will never bring back those he murdered. 

Though my circumstances differ, nothing I ever do will restore the damage I caused. I didn't murder anyone, but no transformation in me, no matter how significant, can ever heal the harm I caused. It's a depressing thought that leaves me feeling troubled. 

The reality is that only forgiveness and mercy can begin the healing process. Cruz does not deserve forgiveness, and neither do I. Nor should either of us demand it from those we harmed. We have no right. Yet, Jesus knew that revenge (thinly disguised in our culture as "retribution") does not lead to healing. It might provide temporary satisfaction, but it can never heal. 

Though I've never suffered the level of devastating loss and pain the Parkland families have suffered, I hope that I would be able to find a place in my heart for forgiveness. Cruz will die in prison, suffering the death penalty over a lifetime of years, and he will suffer daily, too. But even if his heart changes, he'll suffer even more, unless someone shows him mercy and forgiveness. 

Sadly, the families of Cruz's victims will continue to suffer too, even more so if they let hate and anger consume them. Yet, who of us has any right to deny them the only emotion they may currently be capable of feeling towards Cruz? It's a no-win situation, no matter what way you look at it.