Modern Kadesh

I really should have titled the previous post "Kadesh" - that's where the story happened. The point was that the Lord was giving a seemingly impossible task to the Israelites and asking that they trust in him to give them the victory.

I see many parallels in modern life. Recently I talked to a guy that had worked in the maximum security prison system as a guard. This guy's job was to be the first guy into the room on the unit whose task it was to take down the "worst of the worst" inmates that weren't obeying the rules. If you've ever seen this sort of thing on TV (on 60 minutes, etc.) it's very sobering. A team of guys who look like defensive lineman, dressed in body armor, come to the door of a maximum security jail cell, the door is opened, they go in and the inmate comes out. There is a lot of violence in between. It's not unheard of for the inmate to strip naked, cover himself in oil (to make himself hard to hold on to), strap sharp objects in both hands and spread his own feces over the floor of the room (sorry - a necessary detail). This is to say nothing of the verbal abuse, threats against your family and being hated by all of the inmates in the prison. It is not a job for the faint of heart.

This particular guy was forced to find other work when his body suffered a lot of damage from a 300-lb inmate who jumped off of the bed and landed on top of him as he went in. This guy wasn't complaining because the inmate who jumped actually stabbed the guy behind him in the neck (where there is a gap in the body armor).

Not surprisingly, the guy said his experience in this job made him a supporter of the death penalty.

The Catechism of the Catholic church #2267 says the following in regards to the death penalty

"...the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor."

but then follows with:

"Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitively taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which execution of the of the offender is an absolute necessity are 'very rare if not practically non-existent'."

All of my Catholic peers would assent to the above, as do I. But I struggle with the fact that this assent doesn't cost us anything. My Catholic peers aren't the people who are going to put their bodies on the line "rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm". I wasn't about to argue the point (with the guy who was telling me the story) in any case but I am struck by the parallels to the Kadesh incident about which I have just written previously. An experienced man giving his testimony that keeping these inmates alive is too costly (not just in terms of money - and with personal evidence to back it up) - seems to me like the scouts coming back saying the land can't be taken. And the Church (under the guidance of the Holy Spirit) saying the circumstances for the death penalty are "rare if practically non-existent". Sort of like Moses telling the people it is the will of the LORD.

I'm not giving answers here. But here is the truth - I pray for the grace to stick to the teaching of the Church when the going gets tough, I'm thankful for the people who do those tough jobs and I hope that God gives me the grace I need if it's ever my kid who's job it is to be the first one through that door...

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