Execution – Red Letter Christians

An Interview with Tennessee Activist, Justin Jones, On the #March4Mercy: “God is calling Us to Be on The Margins”

April 15, 2022

Death Penalty, Peace & Nonviolence, Race, Theology

On April 21—just days after Easter—Oscar Smith is set to be executed in Tennessee. The state has 32 people currently on death row and though they have written a letter to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to invite ...

Stations of the Cross Illustrated by Tennessee Men on Death Row

Shane Claiborne

March 2, 2022

Art, Church Life, Death Penalty, Peace & Nonviolence, Theology

May these paintings open our hearts up to the profound depth of God's love, and may they stir in us a passion for extending that love and grace to others. It is our hope that contemplating the execution of Jesus does something to us, in us. We pray that as we reflect on the love of God, it transforms us into people who are merciful and who are committed to ending the death penalty.

Free Melissa Lucio

Michelle Reyes

March 1, 2022

Church Life, Death Penalty, Peace & Nonviolence, Politics, Race, Women

To advance God's kingdom on earth and pursue his vision of holistic shalom means we cannot avoid what's happening on death row.

Buddy Stouffer’s Execution Was the Last of 2021. Will It Be the Last to Be Proved an Error?

Shane Claiborne

January 10, 2022

Death Penalty, Peace & Nonviolence, Politics, Practical Justice

On Thursday (Dec. 9), Oklahoma executed Bigler “Buddy” Stouffer, a 79-year-old deeply committed Christian who has maintained his innocence since being convicted of murder in 1985. It was the last execution sche...

Buddy Stouffer’s Execution Was the Last of 2021. Will It Be the Last to Be Proved an Error?

Shane Claiborne

December 14, 2021

Death Penalty, Peace & Nonviolence, Politics, Practical Justice

Julius Jones was spared by a governor who prayed. Let’s all now pray to end the death penalty.

Shane Claiborne

November 23, 2021

Death Penalty, Peace & Nonviolence, Practical Justice

The irony cannot be missed. Christians all over the world were praying that a Christian governor would not execute a fellow Christian brother who is almost assuredly innocent.

The Wrong Debate: On Alabama’s New Gas Chamber

Chris Brown

September 14, 2021

Peace & Nonviolence, Politics, Practical Justice

As states grapple with how to resume killing, the only debate seems to be over the method.

Overturn Dylann Roof’s Death Sentence — for Me, Not for Him

Sharon Risher

June 2, 2021

Peace & Nonviolence, Practical Justice, Race

Without a death sentence, as I understand, there is just one appeal, after which we never have to hear the killer’s name again.

A Former Confederate State Just Voted To Abolish Its Death Penalty

Shane Claiborne

February 6, 2021

Peace & Nonviolence, Politics, Race

But it’s worth celebrating Virginia, the “home of the Confederacy,” as the first state in the old Confederate South to abolish the death penalty. The two facts are related, because the death penalty cannot be separated from our history of race and slavery in America.

Is Killing Lisa Montgomery the Best Version of Justice We Have?

Shane Claiborne

January 11, 2021

Peace & Nonviolence, Politics, Practical Justice

None of us is above reproach and none of us is beyond redemption. That is a core truth of the Christian faith. And it is a truth that is undermined every time we execute someone.