IS HANGING ONLY ANSWER FOR MURDER?

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 57, 25 February 1949, Page 5

IS HANGING ONLY ANSWER FOR MURDER?

Tackle Causes, Says Minister Boldly tackling a contentious question, the Rev F. J. Climo gave his congregation at the Methodist Church on Sunday night his opinions on what the Christian attitude towards capital punishment should be. In doing so, he suggested that society itself had much to answer for as regards the increase in crimes of violence, and pointed out that it would be better to tackle the causes of crime at their roots rather than to try to curb the effects with drastic penalties. Most people today were appalled at the all too frequent murders taking place in our country, and the horror of the crime was especially brought home to us when it eventuated in our locality, he said. “The cry is now heard from various sources that the government will have to reintroduce capital punishment, that those who take life have no further right to existence. The public cry is that it isn’t good enough that a killer should do a term of imprisonment ranging from fifteen to twenty years and then be freed, while perhaps still in the prime of his life; that such a man when released, is a menace still to the community. “I believe that that is true. Still Dangerous “A man who serves a prison sentence of fifteen years for taking a life, to be released at about 40 years of age, is a dangerous citizen if he is by nature the same man who went behind the bars. “It isn’t fair to the community and it isn’t common sense, and it doesn’t solve the problem of that man’s unhappy relationship to society. “Prison reform does not transform men into saints nor give men’s minds a changed outlook for the best; this applies to men all shades of crime. Prison more often hardens than softens the average man and he comes out to take his place in the world a bitter, resentful person with a grudge against mankind. “The man who has committed murder, premeditated or impulsively, has committed a crime against God and humanity which is terrible. We cannot belittle that. “When Moses came down from the presence of God in Mt Sinai after receiving the tablets of corn-' mandments written thereon were the words, ‘Thou shalt not kill’. To kill another was punishable by death administered by the relations of the victim. That was the law of the Mosaic age. Eye For An Eye “Also adultery was punishable by death. Cursing one’s paients was punishable by death. It was the age of an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, foot for foot, burning for burning, stripe for stripe. “And it was the only law a primitive, undeveloped nation called to worship God could understand. They did ‘ not have the capacity or the intellect of spiritual enlightment to take in and appreciate a higher, more humane and Christian way of living and of justice. An eye for an eye. They had never heard One say, “But I say unto you that ye resist not evil.” “It is so easy for us, especially when murder is committed in our locality and in the tenseness of the hour to carry “bring back capital punishment.” But have we listened to Jesus Christ before we made that statement? ’’’ “Would He endorse those remarks and praise us for them in the light we have of His glorious Salvation for all mankind and in the light we have as Christians of being forgiven much; even things perhaps equal to murder? Is Society Blameless? “A man commits the worst of all crimes in human eyes when he takes life. The cry is for the full penalty. Perhaps without belittling the seriousness of murder we should ask ourselves what contributes to the state of life in a man that' he can commit such a hideous act. Is society blameless herself? “Here is where I find food for thought— A child may be born into a godless home where morals are not taught, and where nothing is done for the character-building of the growing child. Mother and Father may have no use or time ; for religion so the child grows up 1 to become familiar with the - sordid I side of life, with talk not of the j kind used in decent company. He ; grows up in* an atmosphere devoid of refinement and lacking all sense of the sanctity of human personality. i “His mind very early is fed' upon

cheap literature from comics to magazines, sometimes indecent, suggestive and bloodthirsty in plot. “Youngsters of teen age are allowed to frequent picture shows where lower appetities are stimulated by much that contributes to sensualities. Many of the screenings are not fit for. any section of the community, especially youngsters on the verge of young manhood and womanhood. Yet the screen is the schoolroom of conduct for many youngsters today. Jungle-Patterned Dance Hall Drink is the downfall of many and it contributes much to the destruction of many young lives. Society puts the poison before her young. Society will encourage the people to drink and each election endorse it with a continuance vote. “We will put the means of a weaker brothers’ downfall before him; the undesirable films, the hotel bar, the cheap rate jungle-patterned dance ball. Added to this, Society is asked to extend the hours of drinking so he can drink well into the night.— And having drunk with him well and long enough to fire him with madness the cry goes up that capital punishment is the only answer. On Society’s Hands “Society, the crime is on your own hands, and on the hands of all who tolerate the vices and the drink and live a demoralising irreligious witness in the sight of growing up youngster:? who haven’t a chance to make good. “I say this, the blood of the | slain is upon all who contribute I to the lives that make murder : a reality. Yet society is prepared after contributing to this result to cry ‘hang him for it.’! “Should man’s humanity, linked 'with Christ’s love, fail to redeem a man who has taken another’s life, then no law should allow 7 that man ever to be free to menace a community. He should be kept in custody for the term of his natural life. “But, society, look for the traps you lay for the children of today. More souls are mur- ! dered by your system than lives . at the hands of others.”