Enid lawyer supports editor’s call for death penalty moratorium

As a Conservative, I have opposed the death penalty due to my religious beliefs for over 20 years. I took that position because I believe it is important to be consistently Pro-Life.

Love to me is the idea that there is no greater gift than to lay down your life and give all that we are for others and for the idea that protecting human life – all human life – is important.

This is why I oppose abortion, radical Islam, capital punishment, and all other political ideas that undermine the value of human life.

As a Christian, I can take a life in protecting my life, my family, and the innocent lives of others who are in jeopardy due to bad religion, bad politics, mental illness, and those who allow their emotions to spin them into a state of not valuing human life. That discipline is not one to be considered lightly.

I now join Pat McGuigan in his call for a moratorium on executions in Oklahoma (“Commentary: Moratorium Now! It’s time to put a hold on executions in Oklahoma,” October 12, 2015).

I have long believed that it is an act of cowardice to take the life of another whose hands are in chains whether restricted by cuffs or by spikes in wood.

Christ does not call us to be defenseless or to ignore violence, but there is a line for how we can respond. I believe we cross that line when we take life – outside of cases involving public safety, where there is a direct threat or in warfare against religions and political cults that devalue and wrongfully destroy human life.

If we could not safely house our current death row, there might be a reason to allow the death penalty in some cases. I do not see that reason present now.

It takes courage for a Conservative to be consistently Pro-life. I admire Pat McGuigan for taking this stand.

Sincerely,Tim Gungoll  Enid, Oklahoma





NOTE: Gungoll is an attorney, long active in conservative and Republican activities.






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