ALASKA CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE
2003 BIENNIAL ASSEMBLY

RESOLUTION 2-03

REAFFIRMATION OF OPPOSITION TO REINSTATEMENT OF THE DEATH PENALTY

 

WHEREAS: Jesus spoke clearly His opposition to the death penalty (John 8:1-11) and cautioned with His words, "Let any among you who is without sin be the
first to throw a stone at her," and

WHEREAS: Jesus firmly rejected the concept of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" (Matthew 5:38-39), and

WHEREAS: In the history of the death penalty in the United States and specifically in the State of Alaska, people of color have been put to death in numbers grossly disproportionate to their numbers in the general population, and

WHEREAS: The Alaska Federation of Natives, the Alaska Intertribal Bar Association, the Alaska Black Caucus, and the NAACP have all adopted resolutions in opposition to the reinstatement of the death penalty in Alaska,

THEREFORE: We the Alaska Christian Conference, assembled in Juneau, Alaska, February 20, 2003, reaffirm Resolution 95-1, first adopted by the Alaska Christian Conference at Sitka, Alaska, on February 22, 1995, opposing the reinstatement of the Death Penalty.

ADOPTED: February 20, 2003, at Juneau, Alaska.


_____________________________         _____________________
Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald, President            Phyllis Sullivan, Secretary