Since the events in the third chapter of Genesis, God’s children have had
both a sin problem and a crime problem.
God gave the first five books of the Bible to Moses to deliver to the
Israelites and throughout it spells out various crimes and punishments.
Some of these laws are timeless for all generations such as murder (Ex.
20:13). There are also others that are largely irrelevant in 2021. One
example of this is found in Exodus 23:19 where is says, “Do not cook a
young goat in its mother’s milk.” This originates from a pagan ritual no
longer in practice today that God wanted to keep the Israelites from.
For each of these sins and crimes there was a punishment for the
Israelites to follow and carry out. Leviticus 20:10 makes it clear that a
couple caught in the act of adultery are to be put to death but in John 8:1-
11 when a crowd is attempting to stone a woman who committed this
crime Jesus shows mercy. Since the man was nowhere to be found an
exception was to be made and Jesus changed her life for the better.
While we have no record of what happened to this woman afterwards, this
is a beautiful example of Jesus focusing on the person and not the crime.
It was more important to Him that this woman understand forgiveness
from her creator and live her life carrying this freedom.
In today’s justice system we see many punishments carried out that seem
too harsh and do not work to rehabilitate the criminal.
McQuilkin and Copan give several examples of alternatives to sending
criminals to prison. The point they make is, “that despite rampant
violence, corruption, drugs and homosexual activity in our prisons, we see
no serious attempts at prison reform.”[1] I would also add to this that
sending a non-violent criminal to this kind of prison under such condition
should be considered cruel and unusual. Clearly the punishment does not
fit the crime.
I agree with the authors regarding deprivation of privilege or monetary
fines as a better means of punishment, but I believe that some sort of
rehabilitation program should be implemented as well by a church or a
sponsor.
In a Tim magazine article by Lauren-Brooke Eisen and Inimai Chettiar they
state that up to 39% of all American prisoners do not belong there. They
state that, “25% of prisoners (364,000 people), almost all non-violent,
lower-level offenders, would be better served by alternatives to
incarceration such as treatment, community service, or probation.” In
addition to this they say, “another 14% (212,000 prisoners) have already
served long sentences for more serious crimes and can be safely set
free.”[2]
This statistic should be taken seriously and can save our country,
government and tax payers a lot of money, time and concern for our
safety. If we are still dealing with adultery by stoning instead of a practice
of showing a new way of life and true rehabilitation we have mismanaged
what we have been entrusted with.
Bibliography
Eisen, Lauren-Brooke, and Innimai Chettiar. “39% of Prisoners Should Not
Be in Prison.”Time, December 9th,
2016.https://time.com/4596081/incarceration-report/.
McQuilkin, J Robertson, and Paul Copan.An Introduction to Biblical Ethics:
Walking in the Way of Wisdom. third ed. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, an
imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2014.
[1]J Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan,An Introduction to Biblical
Ethics: Walking in the Way of Wisdom, third ed. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP,
an imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2014), 436.
[2]Lauren-Brooke Eisen and Innimai Chettiar, “39% of Prisoners Should
Not Be in Prison,”Time, December 9th,
2016,https://time.com/4596081/incarceration-report/.
Word count - 504
