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Utopia – the gallows as a symbol of social injusticeWithin recent decades, the morality of the death penalty is being vigorously challenged throughout the Christian world. Pope John Paul II has become a tireless prophetic witness in his appeal for a consensus to end the death penalty. In The Gospel of Life the Holy Father justifies punishment to protect the public order within a context of incentive for rehabilitation of offenders. The encyclical urged society not to have recourse to the death penalty “except in the case of absolute necessity.” In the mind of Pope John Paul II such grounds in modern society would be “rare, if not practically nonexistent.” (n.56) St. Thomas More (1478-1535), the newly designated patron of statesmen and politicians cannot be numbered among the advocates for abolishing the death penalty. Yet his masterpiece Utopia embodies an inchoative foundation for the contemporary evolution towards revision and questioning of past ethical warrants for capital punishment. Book One of Utopia develops a dialogue on the social evils and structural injustice of 16th century Christian Europe. In an introduction to that classic, Father Edward Surtz, a prominent Jesuit authority on More’s writings, had viewed the gallows for theft as a symbolic key for understanding the social analysis of this first part. Hythloday, the fictitious voyager to the imaginary ideal republic of Utopia, here argues that the hanging of thieves violates the legitimate demands of justice as well as the public good. The unjust conditions of land enclosure for the profit of wool have robbed this barbaric penalty of effective deterrence when the dislocated poor “have no other way to eat.” “Steal or starve” provides no exit from the destructiveness of impoverishment. Deprived of gainful employment, the poor are “being driven to the awful necessity of stealing and then dying for it.” The hypocrisy of exploiting the disadvantaged is unmasked. The pride and greed of 16th century “shakers and movers” created a blind eye to the roots of widespread theft. A cynical dualism divides society between the “good guys” and the “bad guys.” That mentality exonerates the advantaged from any responsibility to change unjust institutions and policies. But, as a complex phenomenon, the roots of crime cannot be ignored. In Confronting a Culture of Violence (1994) the Catholic bishops of the United States rejected the tendency of society to enact violent measures to stem social problems. Abortion on demand, euthanasia and assisted suicide, and expanding support of the death penalty are leading cultural indicators that society is failing fundamental moral tests. Possessions, power, and pleasure cannot lullaby a sense of the underlying cultural values contributing to a culture of violence out of societal consciousness. The loss of a sense of right and wrong, a denial of personal accountability, erosion of family obligations, the acquisitive ethos of consumerism must be faced and not repressed. The bishops also noted the less visible “violence of discrimination and poverty, hunger and hopelessness, addiction and self-destructive behavior.” In November 2000, the Catholic bishops of the United States approved Responsibility, Rehabilitation and Restoration. The document also attended to contributing factors to crime – extreme poverty, discrimination, and racism. The section concludes by calling for “fighting poverty, educating children, and supporting families” as “essential anti-crime strategies.” In his major work on moral theology from the early 1980s, the late Father Bernard Häring was convinced of the hypocrisy of government enacting capital punishment without having “done all in its power to give better education and to care for a more just and humane environment.” That societal blind spot would be compounded by a judiciary which legitimates an educational system “where the teaching of religion and an ethics based on faith is forbidden….” Responsibility, Rehabilitation and Restoration refers to the social principle of option for the poor and vulnerable as offering insight and guidance on crime and criminal justice. It is central to a Catholic social justice perspective to evaluate public policies in terms of their impact on the poorest and most vulnerable citizens in our midst. Desperation, anger, or confusion stemming from inadequate resources (abuse, mental illness, discrimination) do at times move people to criminal behavior. The church strives to address unaddressed social needs -- nutrition, housing, health care, and protection from abuse or neglect – as a preemptive strike against “steppingstones on a path towards crime.” In his “Message for the Jubilee in Prisons” (June 24, 2000), Pope John Paul II reminded the Catholic world that the Great Jubilee was a moment for discovery of “new paths of redemption in every personal and social situation, even if the situation seems desperate.” In the words of the Catholic bishops of the U.S., Catholic teaching on crime and punishment is paradoxical. Crime and violence are intolerable threats to human dignity. In protecting society, a non-negotiable, the bishops declare their intent not to give up “on those who have lost their way.” The paths of justice and mercy must converge. The ethical implications of faith are a call to protecting public safety, promoting the common good and the restoration of community.
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