OK. That was bad. I used a man respected widely by millions of people in a bad attempt at low brow humor just to get your attention. I guess it has a lot to do with my opinion on the pontiff. Let's face it. The Catholic Church does not have a good policy on, among other things, priests who molest small boys and anything to do with women's issues. And since I like woman, that really irks me. Honestly, I don't think Pope John Paul (insert proper Roman numeral here) is relevant. Sure, I'm a Southern Baptist, so I would say that. Right? Sure. Whatever.

So I was surprised when I came to learn that I share the same views with the old man on at least one issue. And that is capital punishment. And that's where the title of this rants comes in. See. The title was not just a bad attempt at low brow humor. It was also true. In St. Louis, Missouri the other day, a death row inmate's life was spared when the Pope personally asked the governor of the state, Mel Carnahan, to grant clemency to the man. Carnahan was seated in the front row at St. Louis Roman Catholic Church where the pontiff delivered his strongest commentary on the death penalty on American soil. Afterwards, the Pope approached Carnahan, who is a Southern Baptist, by the way, and asked him to show mercy to Darrell Mease. Mease was scheduled to be put to death on February 10th for killing three people.

Governor Carnahan, a second term Democrat, had only granted clemency to one death row inmate, a man he described as "very retarded." As way of comparison, he has allowed 26 men to be put to death since 1993. In fact, Missouri has put more people to death than any other state, except for Texas, Virginia and Florida, since 1976.

This is not the first time the pope has sought clemency for a death row inmate. Last year, he issued a plea on behalf of Karla Fae Tucker, a condemned Texas prisoner who purportedly found God while incarcerated. This being Texas, where they'll execute anything not tied down, the appeal fell on death ears. (Uhm, sorry. That was supposed to be "deaf ears.") In 1991, back in Missouri, two years before Carnahan became governor, the pope sought clemency for Glennon Sweet, who had been convicted of killing a state trooper. Sweet was executed last year. In 1987, he spoke out on behalf of an Indiana woman, Paula Cooper, for a murder she committed when she was 15. An Indiana court later over turned her sentence and she is now serving a life sentence for the crime.

This brings up a couple of points. First, what other issues do I agree with the pontiff on? Not many, I'm guessing. Secondly, do we really need or want this man, and through him the Roman Catholic Church, dictating American politics? While I am glad the man's life was spared, I do not think it is wise for any political leader, even a fellow Southern Baptist Democrat, to listen to a church leader before taking political action. What's next? Maybe Pat Robertson will lean on one of his flock in a position of authority to propagate his own agenda. Of course, maybe I'm taking this a little too far. Maybe I should be glad that a man was spared death. Who cares how it came to be? Then again, maybe I'm not taking this far enough. Maybe we should all be concerned every time we hear of another religious leader sticking his or her nose where it does not belong.

Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be a heathen.
 
 

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