Kenneth Eugene Smith’s execution would be the nation’s first using nitrogen gas.
Lawyers for a spiritual adviser to an Alabama inmate scheduled to be executed with nitrogen gas next month said in a complaint filed Wednesday that restrictions on how close the adviser can get to the inmate in the death chamber are “hostile to religion.”
The Rev. Jeff Hood, who plans to enter the death chamber to minister to Kenneth Eugene Smith, said the Alabama Department of Corrections asked him to sign a form acknowledging the risks and agreeing to stay 3 feet (0.9 meters) away from Smith’s gas mask. Hood, a death penalty opponent, said that shows there is a risk to witnesses attending the execution. He said the restrictions would also interfere with his ability to minister to Smith before he is put to death.
“They’ve asked me to sign a waiver, which to me speaks to the fact that they’re already concerned that things could go wrong,” Hood said in a telephone interview.
Smith’s execution would be the nation’s first using nitrogen gas. The nitrogen is planned be administered through the gas mask placed over Smith’s nose and mouth while he is strapped to a gurney in the death chamber normally used for lethal injections.
Yeah, like… One in particular. Buddhism, not Eastern Wind Buddhism (I am only tangentially familiar with that version of the religion, so I cannot speak to strongly on it’s teachings) is the only religion I know of that actually shows any real reverence for life.
Side note, even most Buddhist nations still permit abortion and practice capital punishment, though both are heavily socially stigmatized unless the abortion is medically necessary.
Why would any religion that has reincarnation be against abortion? At worst, it’s a spawn kill - respawn in 30 seconds elsewhere and carry on.
To be fair, it’s impossible to know how long the respawn timer is. Also, spawn killing is not cool.
(this is purely a joke and has no connection to my views on abortion)
The only thing attributed directly to the Buddha about abortion is him saying that he didn’t want it to be used to conceal adultery. So technically he wasn’t even against it, he was against it being used as a tool to do something else.
Sure there is nothing directly that advocates capital punishment in Buddhist tradition but they do have the Angulimala story which, in most versions, the Buddha tells him to accept his fate to be executed for murder. Also you know in practice the Tibetan theocracy was willing to do it for the crime of heresy.