Rounds Stays Execution

I just received an email notifying me that Sacred Heart Parish in Aberdeen will hold a prayer service tonight at 9:30 to pray for Elijah Page, his family, and his victim's family.  Page, as you all know by now, was scheduled to die at 10:00.  In looking for a link to give some basic facts on the case, I see that Gov. Rounds has stayed the execution.  I am on record advocating for the commutation of Page's sentence.  I hope and pray that this is the governor's intention. 

But the thought I was about to blog on is as follows.  The governor has been getting great amounts of grief from the left over this issue of the death penalty.  One assumes this is out of a sincere opposition to the death penalty.  Yet, this is the same crowd that chides conservative Christians over seeking to "impose their values on the rest of us."  Is that not what the anti-capital punishment advocates seek to do?  After all, public opinion is against them.  Do they not seek to "impose" a regime in which their values that say capital punishment is unjust are enshrined in law, as against those who view capital punishment as appropriate justice for heinous crimes?  No, there is no imposition by anyone.  Those opposed to the death penalty impose nothing.  They are simply proposing a view of justice to their fellow citizens in the hope that they can persuade those citizens to revoke the death penalty in our state.  I suspect they are sincerely trying to persuade their fellow citizens to adopt policies they believe are in conformity with justice.  If only they could see that this is also the sincere desire of conservative Christians. 

Politics is, to a significant degree, about values.  Politics exists because there is disagreement over what our values should be.  The law, no matter what it does, even if it is silent, endorses some values over others.  The law is one very important way in which we express who we are and who we want to be as a people.  These are values questions.  Political talk is values talk.  There is no way to avoid it.  So let's stop the silly talk about who is imposing values on whom.