The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1914-12-31
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
AGAINST GODS LAW
lRY M. M. COnneIlY.l

pSlallFS SoLuLldHu was lSSu6us 10Ol
shalt not kill" 1t was succinct, pos.
tive and direct. 1t left no room foI
debate or doubt, There was no space
for quibbling or assembling. 1t came
direct for mthe Father, and, unlike
much of the Old Testament, it did not
come to us second handed, or through
the agency of the lips of another. No
matter what the provocation, no mat
ter what the excuse, no matter how in
genious may BIT the attempts at justifi-
cation, the command is still there, i'm
mutable, imperishable, ineluctible: !:
Thou shalt not kill" In spite of this
at the present time eleven antions,
maddened and enraged, and lusting for
blood, are attempting to destroy each
other, and the misery of it Is thot nine
OF these nations profes to be christian
and followers Of the Master. The
units and individuals composing these
nations would recoil in horror from
the taking of life, but collectively
they seem to have adopted the philoso-
ply satirized by the poet, Beilby Por-
teus:
One murder made a william,
Millions hero. Princes were priyil-
eyed.
To kill, and numbers sanctified the
crime"
| What seems strange is that not only
the trained and seasoned soldier, but
the statesman, the scientist, the pub
licist, the poet and even the prelate
and sacerdotalist condone and conse-
crate this human slaughter on the part
of their own people, and hail with
glad aclaim the genius that can invent
and put into operation the most hor-
l.rific and effective engines of death.
They have much to say about civilized
warfare, and in their pronouncements
and preachments put forth logic that
would be amusing were they not deal
Iing with subject so terribl ytragic
and Drutally bloody. They approve
Of and applaud the taking of life, if it
ua done according to certain plans
and specifications of their, own--as if
it mattered to the one deprived of life
what menas were used in taking if
from him.
Long lines of trenches are dug in
which soldiers conceal themselves for
protection while firing upon the enemy
and these trenches, many miles in
length, are often utilized as the almost
endless graves of thousands. Deadly
missiles are sent hurting to explode
very often over helpless people and
as the latest triumph of science,
bombs are dropped from the skies, to
fall upon and destroy human life. Be-
sides this, those who go down to the
sea in the ships have learned the art
OF submarine navigation, and by de-
noniacal skill dive under great ships
and send them, together with humid
reds of lives, to the bottom, by the ex-
plosing of single torpedo. War is
stalking over Europe, and we have
no sure means of telling how long it
will keyp it's iron hoof from our own |
land. We are appalled, at the whole |
sale shedding of blood and taking of |
life. For this reason we believe that
wars should be avonided and we all |
look forward to that happy day, pic
tured by the poet, when the war drum
will beat no longer and when there
viii lbe parliamnt of man and feder-
alton Of the world. This to our larg-
er vision will be the consummation of
spiritual growth and the, rescue, of
mankind from the last traces Of alta
vistic savagery. We who are enjoying
peace and plenty imagine that we are
right minded and humane because we
decry war and pray for peace and
the conservation of human life; but,
il we should make proper and candid
of our own delinquencies
and the sins of commission, we will
will find that we are not doing our
part towards the preservation of that
human life which we profess to prize
so highly. On our own motion, and
n obedience to cruel laws made by
and in direct conflict with
he eomamnd of our Heavenly Father,
We are daily taking life as a punish
nenttfor crime. The question of how
lnwise, unchristianlike and unnecces-
,ary is capital punishment will be
lealt with in succeeding articles.