COUNCIL FOCUS:
The Council has long been committed to ending the death penalty and is now working for a moratorium on executions to allow for a study of the state's capital punishment system.
More than 150 prominent North Carolinians, including Council Executive Director George Reed, have called for a two-year moratorium on executions to allow for study of the state's capital punishment system. To view a copy of the letter calling for a moratorium,
click here.
A 2001 study sponsored by the Council and the Common Sense Foundation found racial bias in how the death penalty was assigned.
People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, a former affiliate of the Council, is now an independent organization working on this issue.
EVENT:
RESOURCES:
Unit in Acts of Faith: Resources for Prophetic Worship (worship aids, scripture commentary, prayers, litanies, hymn suggestions, and issue-based statistics and facts).
"Can These Dry Bones Live? The Death Penalty"
LINKS:
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Policy Statement on the Death Penalty (approved April 23, 2987)
"Race and the Death Penalty in North Carolina" (2001)
The delegates of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina approved a resolution supporting abolition of the death penalty.
"That the 190 th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina calls upon the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina and the Governor to abolish the death penalty in the next legislative session as being inconsistent with the Gospel's call of reconciliation and love, and immediately to commute the sentences of those already sentenced to die at the hands of the State."
WHY PEOPLE OF FAITH SHOULD CARE:
Jesus urged us not to act out of revenge but to practice forgiveness. He urged us to justice and a respect for one another, not violent retribution. His crucifixion was the ultimate example of capital punishment meted out for political reasons.
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