George Leo Thomas

David Thomas Dawson has a date with death. In 1987, he was convicted of triple murder and kidnap. Victims David and Monica Rodstein and their 11-year-old son lost their lives at the hands of this man. Police found their 15-year-old daughter Amy alive two days after the killings.

In February 1987, Yellowstone County District Court convicted him of three counts of deliberate homicide and four counts of aggravated kidnapping. District Court Judge Gregory R. Todd has set Dawson's execution by lethal injection for Aug. 11, 2006.

The facts surrounding this grisly crime will engender little public sympathy. Most people, upon recounting the details of the case, recoil in horror. Few can muster even a modicum of support for an individual responsible for such cold-blooded violence. Fewer still will shed tears at the time of his execution. Some predictably will say that he got what he deserved. Others will experience relief that society is rid of a man capable of such egregious crime.

St. Augustine once opined that if you look deeply enough into the life of any person, there you will find something that is divine. In this instance, Augustine's perspective will be challenging for many to embrace. In this same vein, the Gospel mandates that we "love our enemies and pray for those who have harmed us". Could this be why C. S. Lewis complained, "If you want a religion to make you really comfortable, I certainly don't recommend Christianity".

Catholic social teaching acknowledges "in principle that the State has the right to take the life of persons guilty of extremely serious crimes".

But this principle cannot overshadow the Church's consistent belief in the dignity of every human life, even those whose actions and decisions have proved to be sub-human. Nor can this principle eclipse the hallowed conviction that God alone is the author of life and the arbiter of death. Catholic social teaching further asserts that "if non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means...". The fact of the matter is, modern technology has provided the means to assure the safety of the community for the natural lifetime of a convicted felon. The Montana penal system has this technology well in place.

The Chinese have a saying that "the one who seeks revenge should dig not one grave, but two". Retribution and vengeance, while understandable, neither heal the soul nor restore the loss of a loved one. A rational examination of the death penalty reveals a startling reality — that we are attempting to teach that killing is wrong by taking the life of another person!

Proponents of capital punishment assert that those who take the life of another should be punished in kind. This "eye for an eye mentality" underestimates the gravity of interminable confinement.

David Thomas Dawson is case in point. He is experiencing the life reserved for those who visit heinous crime upon society — a caged life of wretched sameness, devoid of meaning and meaningful human contact. And he wants out.

In his testimony before the Montana Supreme Court, Dawson said it himself, "I have no hopes, no dreams. All I have is twenty years of preparing to be executed. And it's that preparedness that I decided, you know, enough is enough". David Thomas Dawson is asking the people of the State of Montana to assist him in the willful taking of his own life, a request tantamount to state-sponsored suicide.

His request, and the State's willingness to grant it, demeans all of us, and makes us, perhaps unwittingly, participants in the suicidal ideations of a man unwilling to take responsibility for his tragic decisions.

Dawson himself has discharged his own legal counsel and has opted to dismiss his appeals of execution. Although it appears little can be done to stop the execution process now in motion, intervention by Governor Brian Schweitzer or an action by the court is still a remote possibility.

I hope that the Dawson case will serve as a catalyst for Montana lawmakers and citizens to take a closer look at the death penalty and its implications.

• Is the death penalty really necessary when modern technology can permanently protect society from our worst offenders?
• Is an "eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" mentality good for the soul and worthy of our Montana citizenry?
• Can Christians both embrace the Gospel and execute fellow humans while remaining true to the teachings of the Master?
• Can we afford to teach our children the inconsistent lesson that the way to punish killers is by killing them?
• Is there room in the State of Montana for the option of restorative justice, where criminals are accorded through spiritual and psychological counsel, the opportunity to take responsibility for their past decisions?
• Are Catholic legislators willing to build a culture of life in the State of Montana instead of a culture of death that uses violence as an answer to egregious crime?
• Can we find it in our hearts to pray for those responsible for committing violent crimes in our society, including David Thomas Dawson, that they may experience true remorse and a change of heart?

In the months ahead I ask the people of the Diocese of Helena, and other people of goodwill, to pray for the family and friends of David and Monica Rodstein, along with other victims of violent crime. None of us can fully appreciate the pain and anguish they have experienced because few of us have walked in their shoes. David Thomas Dawson's impending execution gives all of us an opportunity to pray for them and express our solidarity with them especially when media coverage will undoubtedly reopen the wounds and losses of their past.

Finally, I ask you to appeal to Gov. Brian Schweitzer and our State legislators to dismantle the death penalty in the State of Montana and relinquish the dated delusion that lethal injection is the answer to one of society's most complex problems. It is time to take the road less traveled and lead Montana citizens into a new culture of life and love.

The Montana Catholic

Enlaces sobre Direitos Humanos