Elon University Seminar, Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations, New York
16 January 2013
Monthly Archives: February 2013
Lent 3: see
Filed under Lent, New York, Photo, Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations
Can we seek another way?
An execution always raises questions of morality.
Brutal, horrific crimes that violate our sisters and brothers do so as well.
But when the state kills – on behalf of we the people who are the state – is it a matter of justice? Or revenge? Is it an act of retribution? And is that the best we can do? Do executions make us safer? Do they convey the message that violence is the most appropriate answer to violence? Do they demean us all and fuel a cycle of violence?
The pending execution of Warren Lee Hill, Jr., currently scheduled for February 19 in Georgia, raises all these questions and more.
Hill was serving time for the murder of his girl friend when he was convicted of killing another inmate and sentenced to death. There is no question of his guilt.
The question in this case, beyond those in any execution, revolve around Hill’s mental capacity. His IQ is reported to be 70. This raises the question of his mental capacity and his awareness to understand his acts.
The U.S. Supreme Court addressed the issue of capacity in the 2002 decision Atkins. v. Virginia. The American Psychological Association summarizes that decision as follows:
The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, ruled that executions of mentally retarded criminals are “cruel and unusual punishments” prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. The Court cited the growing number of states prohibiting the execution of persons with mental retardation as a reflection of society’s view that offenders considered to have mental retardation are categorically less culpable than the average criminal. The Court also reasoned that it was “not persuaded that the execution of mentally retarded criminals will measurably advance the deterrent or the retributive purpose of the death penalty.”
However, Georgia has a high standard of proof for proving mental retardation: the standard of proving mental incapacitation beyond a reasonable doubt. Georgia does not believe that standard has been met in Hill’s case.
His attorney and those concerned for Hill are not seeking a pardon. They ask that he be granted clemency and incarcerated for life. The U.S. Supreme Court could prevent Hill’s execution in the next few days.
I grieve for Myra Wright and Joseph Handspike who were killed by Warren Lee Hill, Jr. and for their family and friends. There can be no defense for Hill’s crimes.
But that is not all the story. What does it say about our society – about us – that we resort to execution in the case of an individual with the mental capacity and awareness of Hill? Can we not find another way?
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Capital Punishment, Current Events, Death Penalty, Human Rights
Purple flowers, Dublin zoo
After the wedding, we visited the Dublin Zoo.
It was cold.
It was cloudy.
We did not stay all day.
But we had a good time.
And there were purple flowers,
including these with their
little yellow helmets.
29 April 2012
Dublin Zoo
Ireland
Lenten photo-a-day challenge
Lent is coming.
Lent, the season of the Christian year that leads to Easter, is a time of preparation. It is a time of simple living, prayer, and fasting – a time to practice spiritual disciplines.
Some people add prayer, scripture reading, and meditation to their lives. Some choose to give up something. In different ways, people make the journey to the week when Christians remember the arrest, torture, execution and resurrection of Jesus.
This year, I plan to join in the Lenten photo-a-day challenge posed by Rethink Church and by Rethink PC(USA). Here are the details:
Whatever your practices this season, will you join this photo-a-day challenge and share with the community how you perceive each word or phrase for the day? No explanation needed, unless you want to. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. Tag your photos on instagram with @rethinkchurch or on twitter with #rethinkchurch and #40days.
You don’t have to be a great photographer. This project is hopefully more about the practice of paying attention and being intentional, than it is being the best photographer [though we encourage you to get creative!]. If you don’t have instagram or twitter, we’d still love for you to share your photos. Just share them on your facebook page and tag us, or post them on our facebook wall.
Rethink Church provides a list of words related to the Lenten journey.
I will post here and will tweet the posts at @wmkoenig using the hashtags #rethinkpcusa and #40days.
This amount of discipline will present a challenge to me. I guess that explains its name.
See how I do – along the Trail.
What would you do?
Photo by Ad Meskens
What do you do when your cab driver makes the sign of the cross while the cab is moving?
I confess it befuddles me. When I notice a cabbie make that simple, profound, ancient gesture in that context, I wonder what to think and feel.
Should I feel safer because the driver has reached out to the Divine for guidance and protection?
Should I worry because clearly the driver no longer has confidence in his or her abilities to navigate the situation and has to turn to another source for assistance?
Should I rejoice in the drivers affirmation that we all live and move and have or being in God?
Should I scan the area for danger?
Fall to the cab floor?
Prepare to fling open the door and jump, tuck and roll toward safety?
Join the driver in the action?
Use the situation for an opportunity to write something boring?
The possibilities seem endless.
To help explore them, I ask: “What would you do?”
See you along the Trail.
Facing down Nemo
I sit in warm comfort in Memphis, Tennessee, preparing for speaking gigs over the next two days. But my thoughts turns to New York City and the people of the Northeast.
Snowmageddon, in some form, has struck. Many people are or will be inconvenienced by the storm; some will be threatened: people who have no shelter, people still recovering from Sandy, and people who must, for whatever reason be outside. My heart aches with worry for my sisters and brother.
The invitation to visit Memphis came last fall. I purchased the ticket in December, scheduling the flight for Thursday.
Early last week, I pondered changing the ticket to leave New York today – Friday. The change fee proved more than I was willing to pay.
Only after I had decided not to change my ticket did I start paying attention to the weather. And I realized that I would still be in New York if I had made the change. Airlines had begun cancelling Friday flights by the time I arrived at LaGuardia on Thursday afternoon.
Part of me gives thanks that I made it to Memphis. I am with good people, eating too much good food, and having great opportunities to share about the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations.
Part of me wishes I were in New York – as the city and the region deal with Nemo.
All of me wishes for safety for all people who are in the path of the storm.
All of me gives thanks for all people who care for sisters and brothers – going in harm’s way or providing shelter from the storm.
See you along the Trail.
Purple flowers, Dublin Garden of Remembrance
We arrived at the
Garden of Remembrance in Dublin
almost a year
after Queen Elizabeth II,
our visit a bit less historic.
No wreath we brought,
still flowers greeted us
as we remembered
past people and events,
as we reflected on
courage and freedom,
and the costs of violence,
and the possibilities of nonviolence.
28 April 2012
Garden of Remembrance, Dublin
Ireland
Ungodly
When the guy beside me in the long slow-moving security line, that followed the long slow-moving check-in line, loudly proclaimed the situation as “ungodly,” all my anger, frustration, and resentment melted in an instant.
Ungodly?
You want ungodly?
Ungodly is:
Bombs falling on the Nuba mountains
A wall surrounding Bethlehem
Gaza besieged
Medical personnel killed in Pakistan
Presents under Christmas trees never to be opened because the children for whom they were intended died in a hail of bullets
Uncivil war ripping Pakistan
Rape in North Kivu and India and New York
Abuse in homes, mental institutions, prisons
Bodies and spirits tortured
Young people committing suicide because of what others think about theirs sexual orientation
Women and men and children trafficked for sex or labor or other reason
Economic systems that make a few wealthy beyond imagination and impoverish others
Hunger – real hunger
These are some ungodly things.
Ungodly abounds on this small blue, green planet.
But having to stand in a line – a confusing, inconvenient line – a line that leads to planes that take us where we want, where we have – to be – having to stand in line is:
a pain in our privileged asses and far from ungodly.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Current Events, Travel
Along the Graybeard Trail 