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PAUL HENRY, Observer staff reporter editorial@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Outspoken clergyman Rev Al Miller Monday launched a verbal assault on opponents of capital punishment, describing them as "dumb" and "dunce" for "pushing" the argument that the death penalty was not a deterrent to murder.
"It [capital punishment] is a deterrent. Anyone who says it is not a deterrent is dumb," Miller, who is the senior pastor for Fellowship Tabernacle Church in Kingston, told the Observer. "Sorry to make it sound so hard, but you have to be dumb to [say] that it is not a deterrent. It is an absolute foolish argument. You have to be dunce, dunce, dunce to be pushing that argument."
Miller was speaking in support of fellow clergymen Bishop Ronald Blair and Rev Terrence Brown, the former head of the Spanish Town Ministers Fraternal, who were reported on Monday as calling for the reinstatement of hanging to stem the island's high murder rate.
Blair, who made his call for the resumption of capital punishment during a Heritage thanksgiving service on Sunday at the Waltham Park New Testament Church of God attended by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, reportedly said that bringing back capital punishment was a "tough decision that had to be made if we're going to have change in our land".
For his part, Brown was reported as saying in an interview with the Observer: "... I believe that hanging needs to be reintroduced urgently. We cannot continue to toy with the future of the nation."
Although the death penalty is still on the books in Jamaica, the last execution was carried out more than 20 years ago.
Over the years, opponents of the death penalty - which include local and international human rights groups and some influential leaders within Christendom - have consistently argued that capital punishment was inhumane, not a deterrent to murder and, as such, should be banned, in keeping with international trends.
The issue of whether or not to reinstate hanging has, for years since the 1980s, been debated in Parliament without any firm commitment either way.
In considering the issues, especially in the face of the country's galloping murder rate and public outcry, the current government has said that it would put the matter to Parliamentarians for a conscience vote.
On Monday, Miller told the Observer that hanging was in fact a deterrent to murder, while pointing to some Islamic countries as examples of the effectiveness of capital punishment.
Miller also said that for the death penalty to be truly effective, the "inequities" of the justice system needed to be corrected while the probability of nabbing criminals needed to be increased.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/..._AL_MILLER.asp
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Outspoken clergyman Rev Al Miller Monday launched a verbal assault on opponents of capital punishment, describing them as "dumb" and "dunce" for "pushing" the argument that the death penalty was not a deterrent to murder.
"It [capital punishment] is a deterrent. Anyone who says it is not a deterrent is dumb," Miller, who is the senior pastor for Fellowship Tabernacle Church in Kingston, told the Observer. "Sorry to make it sound so hard, but you have to be dumb to [say] that it is not a deterrent. It is an absolute foolish argument. You have to be dunce, dunce, dunce to be pushing that argument."
Miller was speaking in support of fellow clergymen Bishop Ronald Blair and Rev Terrence Brown, the former head of the Spanish Town Ministers Fraternal, who were reported on Monday as calling for the reinstatement of hanging to stem the island's high murder rate.
Blair, who made his call for the resumption of capital punishment during a Heritage thanksgiving service on Sunday at the Waltham Park New Testament Church of God attended by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, reportedly said that bringing back capital punishment was a "tough decision that had to be made if we're going to have change in our land".
For his part, Brown was reported as saying in an interview with the Observer: "... I believe that hanging needs to be reintroduced urgently. We cannot continue to toy with the future of the nation."
Although the death penalty is still on the books in Jamaica, the last execution was carried out more than 20 years ago.
Over the years, opponents of the death penalty - which include local and international human rights groups and some influential leaders within Christendom - have consistently argued that capital punishment was inhumane, not a deterrent to murder and, as such, should be banned, in keeping with international trends.
The issue of whether or not to reinstate hanging has, for years since the 1980s, been debated in Parliament without any firm commitment either way.
In considering the issues, especially in the face of the country's galloping murder rate and public outcry, the current government has said that it would put the matter to Parliamentarians for a conscience vote.
On Monday, Miller told the Observer that hanging was in fact a deterrent to murder, while pointing to some Islamic countries as examples of the effectiveness of capital punishment.
Miller also said that for the death penalty to be truly effective, the "inequities" of the justice system needed to be corrected while the probability of nabbing criminals needed to be increased.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/..._AL_MILLER.asp
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