It is official. On Wednesday, September 21st 2011, a potentially innocent man was executed in the state of Georgia. Honestly though, at this point, the word “executed” sounds way too kind. The word “murdered” seems to me a much better fit. After all, that is all his death records reveal. The word “homicide” surely stands out more than any other word on that piece of paper, except, perhaps the name: Troy Anthony Davis. Davis was accused of killing an off-duty police officer of 20 years ago. The police officer was white, and troy, black. They may have looked different, but the cause of the death was the same: homicide. Since the murder, Troy has spent his life on death row. Four execution dates and one hell of a fight later the state finally succeeded. Troy Davis was executed four hours later than originally planned, at 11:08 PM. The Family of the slain officer looked on during the procedure hoping it would bring them some sort of peace of justice or… anything at all.
What complicates the case is the doubt surrounding Davis’ guilt. Since the guilty verdict, 7 out of 9 witnesses have recanted their testimonies (one of which even reportedly claimed to be the actual guilty party). Members of the Jury have even stepped forward to voice their doubts surrounding Troy’s case. The case has garnered international attention, all calling for another trial.
Regardless of whether or not Troy is actually guilty, I am left with feelings of both deep sadness and strong anger. I wonder what went wrong to bring us to this point. To the point where we believe the best way to fight homicide is with more homicide. All we really seem to know how to do is perpetuate this violent cycle. While I understand the sadness of the family, I have to wonder what kind of people believe they will find peace only after another human being loses his life. Have we really fallen that far? Have we forgotten that inside each of us is a beating, bleeding heart? Have we forgotten that we are all created in the image of a God whose love and forgiveness for us goes beyond all understanding? Is it not much more beautiful to hear stories of redemption through forgiveness than stories of revenge through murder?
But unfortunately it was not just the family of the officer that felt the best way to deal with their broken hearts was revenge. Today we seem to see that train of thought everywhere we look. This is the reason for these endless wars we find ourselves caught in. This is the reason neighbors don’t talk to neighbors. This is the reason kids all of the world have guns in their hands. We are trying to fill these empty spaces in our hearts with revenge, and we are drifting farther and farther away from love. We are drifting farther away from reconciliation. We are drifting farther away from peace. Our communities are falling apart and our world is full of pain and anger, and unless we can learn to forgive and love, our world will continue to crumble. This blood is on all our hands. We are all responsible, and the path to a better world starts with us. We must choose to fight evil with love, violence with forgiveness, pain with relationships, because as long as we sit by and try to find redemption in violence, we will not make it very far. We need to end this cycle.
