Throughout the semester, our class requires us to visit two on campus events about religion in our city. One of these events took place last Tuesday. Sister Helen Prejean made a speech on the death penalty. Before her speech, I was indifferent about the death penalty. I mean, I don’t want people to die for their one mistake, but if they killed someone I loved it would be different. It sounds normal for people to say this because that’s what society tells us. It tells us that murderers are monsters and should be punished for their wrong doing, and that the only way families can heal is through killing the criminal. But instead, killers are not monsters but normal people like us. Some may have mental issues while others may have slipped up on accident, and this is why we should treat these people with respect. Everyone deserves a second chance, even if it is at life. Some families may feel reconciled for their loved one’s death, but they later realize what pain they have caused to the murderer’s family. The death penalty is a no win situation for everyone winds up hurt in the end. The main question is “What would Jesus do?” He would forgive not judge, and we should live by His ways. It is Sister Helen Prejean that has made me think this way. My outlook on the death penalty as well as the value of life has changed because of this one woman’s speech. From the hour and fifteen minutes I spent listening to her I can tell that she has already changed the world. After listening to her, the whole audience thought the same thing- that the death penalty should not exist.
Photo courtesy of Google
If you would like to visit her website to watch A Life Against Death: The Work of Sister Helen Prejean, click here. 
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