No Death Penalty for Kids - Amen.

The Supreme Court ruled today that executing juvenile offenders -- those less than 18 years old -- violates constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. According to The New York Times, that means we no longer share with Somalia the dubious honor of being the only countries to sanction the execution of teenagers.

And to that we can say, "Amen."

The court's reasoning, though, is interesting. As a society, the court argued that we find juveniles "less culpable" of their crimes than adults. It used similar reasoning in an earlier case that banned executions of the mentally retarded. Put another way, children, adolescents, and the mentally retarded are not as aware as adults of the consequences of their actions.

In this, the court is probably right. But for Christians, I don't think it's the whole issue.

Christians should oppose the death penalty for ALL people. As punishment, it violates Jesus's admonitions to mercy, enemy-love, and radical forgiveness. Jesus did not preach an eye-for-an-eye justice; he preached mercy. We ignore that teaching at our own peril.

From a practical point of view, it's also irreversible -- a troubling fact given the wave of convictions reversed on DNA evidence in recent years. Additionally, there's no evidence the death penalty deters crime.

More importantly, our fallenness - brought into sharpest contrast by the holiness of our redeemer - reveals as fallible both individuals and society as a whole. Our wisdom is not God's wisdom. Our justice is not God's justice. This is nowhere as clear as the cross, where our God died as a victim of capital punishment, a sentence judged just by the devout and powerful.

We are no less disposed to crucify than Pilate and the Sanhedrin.

A society must punish its lawbreakers, but that should give us pause.