Does the Death Penalty Serve Justice?

This coming Sunday, January 30, we are pleased to host Rev. Stacy Rector, executive director of "Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty." Stacy will speak on Tennessee's stance on the death penalty and the justice to be served to the 88 people (87 men and 1 woman) currently held on our state's death row.

Capital Punishment is a type of justice. It falls within the category of retributive justice, a form that appeals to our sense of vengance, and an act that serve to satisfy our base desire to pay back a wrong. However, if we are ever to move beyond "an eye for an eye" (that leaves the whole world blind) then we are pointed towards something else...something like restorative justice, a form that rights the wrong, and liberates us from the need to "get even."

From the Website of Tennesseans for alternatives to the death penalty: "Stacy Rector is a native of Dyersburg, Tennessee, a graduate of Rhodes College and Columbia Theological Seminary, and an ordained Presbyterian minister. She served as the Associate Pastor of Second Presbyterian Church in Nashville for nine years. During her time as a pastor, Stacy served on the board of TADP, the Restorative Justice Coalition of Tennessee, and was a founding member of the board for the Presbyterian Network to End Homelessness. In October 2006, Stacy became Executive Director of Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (TADP), an organization whose mission is to honor life by abolishing the death penalty. She also currently serves on the Peacemaking and Outreach committees for the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee and on the board of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty."

Please be warmly invited to join us. We'll be delighted to see you. As always, superlative childcare is provided.