Al Mohler:
The world is watching closely as the trial of Anders Behring Breivik takes place in Oslo. The trial is now an international spectacle. But, much more than Norway’s justice system is on display. That Oslo courtroom is also revealing what remains of an understanding of criminal justice and criminal responsibility when the Christian worldview fades away. The post-Christian condition is fully on display in that courtroom. The man who committed the worst single-handed mass murder in Europe since World War II is on trial — and the maximum term to which he can be sentenced amounts to less than 3.3 months for each of the 77 people he murdered.Read the rest.
5 comments:
And yet Norway has among the lowest rates of violent crimes anywhere in the world. Their prison system shouldn't be working!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate
Maybe the US should try focusing on rehabilitation instead of vengeance and see what happens to the crime rate.
Robb,
So what would you suggest would be the best punishment for a person like Breivik. Do you think Romans 13 should speak to this at all?
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Some of Dr. Mohler's piece did make me a bit uneasy. Kind of had a tone of "lock 'em up and throw away the key!" But in cases like this, I'm not sure that soft pedaling on a punishment is the right thing to do. I think in some cases, for the good of community, some people forfeit their right to live. Not sure where that line should be draw. This is probably why I won't go into politics.
One especially interesting aspect of this conversation is the fact that both Dr. Mohler and Breivik are idealizing a long-lost CULTURAL Christianity. I'm not sure it's entirely a bad thing that it's disappearing either. Isn't that what Tim Keller called "the mushy middle?"
Also, Anonymous (Robb?) is right: as a deterrent and as a measure to prevent recidavism, jail doesn't work. When we lock people up, we ostensibly do it for several reasons: 1. to keep dangerous people away from people they might hurt 2. to rehabilitate the offender 3. to punish the offender. But it really only accomplishes the first and third. Maybe that's enough?
As a Christian, I keep hearing about how there's no such thing as too much grace. How do we reconcile that New Covenant idea with Old Covenant justice? I know the two are not supposed to be contradictory. Are murderers beyond redemption? Do they get the same grace that I do? Is it OK for me to demand a justice for them that I would avoid for myself? I'm not baiting - truly wondering where the line is too.
Good thoughts all around.
My initial take would be to say that some people (like in the case of Breivik) forfeit their right to live in society. When you murder 77 people I think it's safe to say you don't get a do over on that one.
But that doesn't mean he is beyond redemption. The grace of God reaches deeper than we can imagine. But he can reach him through Prison Fellowship while he remains behind bars for the rest of his life or before he gets the lethal injection.
Where you draw the line on who gets a mulligan and who doesn't? I don't know. But I think I would be comfortable saying that Breivik crossed it.
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