Signs of Hope - A Call to End the Death Penalty

On Tuesday, January 13, 2009, dozens of religious leaders, clergy and laity gathered at First and Stephens United Church of Christ in Towson, Maryland to call for the repeal of the death penalty in Maryland. Those who gathered - under the auspices of the Interfaith Coalition to End the Death Penalty - represent well over 2.9 persons of faith, and included Christians, Jews and Muslims. We shared in a call to Governor Martin O’Malley and the Maryland General Assembly to end the state’s death penalty.

The Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment recently released a report with recommendations calling for the end of the death penalty. The Commission’s findings point out that the state’s death penalty is rife with legal, fairness and cost issues. Each of the faith traditions represented in the Coalition share a belief in the sanctity of life that precludes the use of capital punishment.

The Coalition’s letter to Governor O’Malley states that “Common to all of our faiths is the belief in the sanctity of life and forgiveness.” Too often innocent people – often the poor who can’t afford adequate legal representation – are convicted and sentenced to death in our legal system. A disproportionate number of these are people of color – African Americans and Hispanics. May each of us be mindful of the prophet Micah’s words that we are to “do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with the Lord.”