Christians and Capital Punishment The Supreme Court's reinstatement of the death penalty has sparked statements of opposition from some Christians across the country . This essay reflects on these statements and draws the conclusion of their suitability and correctness in light of our Christian heritage and other practical and secular reasons. These statements recognize that Christians with equally serious moral concerns can and do disagree on the issue of capital punishment. We must honor personal freedom in Christ for different people to exercise moral discernment and come to different conclusions on this issue. However, many Christians feel compelled to bear witness to our views and ask the American people to heed us. The death penalty could be justified as the lesser of two evils if it could be conclusively shown that, by inhibiting violent crime, it is useful as a meaningful protection for society. However, the weight of sociological research strongly suggests the opposite: that legal violence may actually encourage criminal violence. Because the sociology of… half the paper… its actual use in our state diminishes us all. It diminishes our shared dignity as human persons and violates our stated respect for human life. We believe it is clear that there must be punishment for crimes. That the punishment is suited to both the crime and the criminal we believe is the constant goal of our courts. If the law of the land matured to the point of prohibiting retaliatory violence that involves punishing crime by killing the criminal, we would consider this a triumph of God's redemptive sovereignty in human affairs..