I saw Fred Lemon preach at the Baptist Church in Swallownest more than 25 years ago; a charismatic figure, this aging greengrocer had the most remarkable Christian testimony.As an old lag and lifetime criminal, unsurprisingly he found his way into Dartmoor prison in the days when prisons were prisons. Quite suddenly, out of the blue, he physically met the Living Christ who came into his cell and was tremendously converted. Later he received a complete healing from a debilitating back condition and he became a much sought after preacher.
I remember him speaking of the heavy atmosphere which would overtake a prison whenever an execution was due and would remain in place until a considerable period afterwards.
I thought about this and wondered how the liberal left could possibly claim that the death penalty did not deter murder. [In a different posting I shall consider Home Office statistical evidence.]
It is simply impossible to believe that dangerous prisoners - perhaps the most likely of all human beings to butcher their fellow man - would not have responded to this prison atmosphere when subsequently released.
Deterrence? - Most assuredly.
[My personal estimate is that the abolition of the death penalty in 1964 has cost approximately fifteen thousand innocent lives.]
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