Shane Claiborne on Abolishing the Death Penalty

Shane Claiborne is an outspoken critic of the death penalty. He’s a well-respected justice system reform activist and Christian faith leader, and he believes capital punishment needs to go for good in the United States — a country that’s in company with China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Egypt for countries with the highest execution rates.

In the first half of today’s episode, Shane shares how he came to believe so passionately against the death penalty, lay out the most important facts, and celebrate progress that’s already been made, such as the abolition of the death penalty in some places and the growing conversation on the topic. He also casts a vision for what a future without the death penalty could look like. In the second half, Shane lays out how each of us can get involved.

Guest: Shane Claiborne, activist and author

Get involved in protesting against the death penalty at deathpenaltyaction.org, and learn more about Shane and his work at shaneclaiborne.com.

Background reading:

The Guardian wrote this article about Lisa Montgomery, whose execution is scheduled for tomorrow, January 12

Visit The Marshall Project’s ‘The Next to Die’ page for great journalism about death row and the death penalty

Shane’s book, Executing Grace, talks about the death penalty from a faith perspective

And Bryan Stevenson’s book, Just Mercy, is also a great and important read on the subject. He’s the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative.

Learn why and how to abolish the death penalty

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