Today, just minutes from my house in Draper, UT, convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed by a firing squad. Gardner is the first man in 14 years to receive death by firing squad in America, and only the third man since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
His execution has renewed a national debate about capital punishment. I oppose the death penalty, but I think the firing squad is preferable to other methods. Gardner actually requested it; it’s a quick death. I also agree with what Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, in a Fox News editorial, wrote regarding the firing squad: “I support firing squads because of the personal responsibility they impose on those who execute, and because the full awareness of the horror of taking another life may actually lead to fewer executions.”
But this is not the appropriate forum to discuss the merits of capital punishment. I mention this story for its connection to Utah and Mormonism.
From the Associated Press:
Of the 49 executions carried out in the state since the 1850s, 40 were by firing squad. Before Gardner’s death, the most recent was John Albert Taylor, who was executed on Jan. 26, 1996, for raping and strangling an 11-year-old girl.
Historians say the firing squad persisted in Utah long after the rest of the nation abandoned it because of the 19th century doctrine of the state’s predominant religion. Early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believed in the concept of “blood atonement“—that only through spilling one’s own blood could a condemned person adequately atone for their crimes and be redeemed in the next life.
Asked by the Deseret News in 1996 why he chose the firing squad, Ronnie Lee Gardner said, “I guess it’s just my Mormon heritage.”
There has been so much attention to the blood atonement that the LDS Church felt it necessary to release a statement about it on Wednesday:
In the mid-19th century, when rhetorical, emotional oratory was common, some church members and leaders used strong language that included notions of people making restitution for their sins by giving up their own lives.
However, so-called “blood atonement,” by which individuals would be required to shed their own blood to pay for their sins, is not a doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We believe in and teach the infinite and all-encompassing atonement of Jesus Christ, which makes forgiveness of sin and salvation possible for all people.
I don’t have any commentary to provide to this story (*sighs of relief from every reader*). I’m posting this because it’s not often that the blood atonement makes it way into the national news.
I had some interesting conversations on this subject with co-workers and friends. As far as I remember I was taught my entire young life that there were sins Jesus would not atone for. Murder was number one.
I just thought it was interesting that he selected this method. For the state of Utah, apparently anyone who selected firing squad before 2004 gets to follow through with it. Anyone after 2004 is in the unlucky bucket of lethal injection.
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/methods-execution#state
“As far as I remember I was taught my entire young life that there were sins Jesus would not atone for. Murder was number one.”
If you’re “under the covenant” (a Mormon), then, yes, murder is unforgivable. If you click the hyperlink in my article for the words “all-encompassing,” it’ll take you to D&C 42:18: And now, behold, I speak unto the church. Thou shalt not kill; and he that kills shall not have forgiveness in this world, nor in the world to come.”
You quoted the Deseret News as saying the Church released a statement. However, I’d like to read it on the Church’s official website. I have not been able to find it. Do you know where I can read the Church’s official statement for myself?
Sorry, I can’t find it either. I quoted the entire statement that the Deseret News published, however. Do you doubt that the church made such a statement?