Dead Man Walking Essay Example for Free

Dead Man Walking undertakeWhen a criminal is constantly nagged and abused, condemned and ostracized by society, he turns into a viler and bitter individual. The inner(a) core of each human being is essentially divine, even that of the worst villain. It just unavoidablenesss to be revealed to him to help him correct himself with his true personality. This process is inner revelation. . It is only the blazing fire of Divine Knowledge that can lighten him from within. This instrumentality of Divine Knowledge can make him a worthy individual and citizen. This being the truth, single finds it difficult to agree with Gregory Baum that pietism is often ambiguous in its effect on society. He advertise asserts that religion can be used to justify unjust social circumstances. Such possibility occurs when the tenets of religion atomic number 18 misunderstood and implemented wrongly. Misapplications exit produce unfavorable results. Moreover, the interpretations of moral and ethic al values need to be molded as per the demands of the time, and the prevailing social conditions.Poverty is the unitary big reason imputable to which an individual takes to the path of crime. The copious have a role to play here. the message to the rich is that they must(prenominal) be intelligent enough from time to time to help the poor, because this is the way by which they will buy the farm richer still. (4) Sister Helen Prejean, author Dead Man Walking takes the reform stand on social issues, currently capital punishment, and thus serves the true cause of Catholic Church. What is it to undergo the expiry penalty. The best business office of the death is the surprise element of it.But in case of legal death penalty, the suffering begins from daytime one the arrest of the individual, and when the realization dawns on him that he is liable for death penalty. He hopes against hopes that he will survive somehow. The suffering gradually increases, till that stunning moment w hen he is finally sentenced to death. Then he would wait and weep and wear out. (8) The condemned one begins to die at both moment thereafter. Patrick Sonnier, who had killed two teenagers, was one much(prenominal) individual. Now there are five parties concerned in the final scene of the playing period of execution.The condemned prisoner, his family, the State, the Prison Administration and the men whose job is to execute the prisoner to snuff out his life In 1982, Sister Helen Prejean became the spiritual advisor to Patrick Sonnier, months in the lead his death in the electric chair of Louisianas Angola State Prison. The interlocking between the spiritual principles and the State Killing of a man with the God-given soul commenced. Christianity stands for love and pardon. The Catholic conical buoy condemns capital punishment on moral motives. An imperfect society doesnt own the right to mete out death penalty.M whatsoever serious crimes are committed in a state of momentary anger. Has death penalty put an end to murders and rapes? The remedy to arrest the trend of heinous crimes lays elsewhere. Helen Prejeans book is local and it has international importance. Another startling and well-substantiated revelation in the book is poor African-Americans in the finish hip-hop are most likely to be executed. If their crimes are against whites, the chances of death penalty are even more. Sociologists-where are you? What do you think of this serious anomaly?Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. (1) You have no right to extinguish the life which you have not kindled. This book saw the light of the day under remote circumstances. Prejean writes, When Chava Colon from the Prison Coalition asks me one January day in 1982 to become a pen comrade to a death-row inmate, I say, Sure. The invitation seems to fit with my work in St. Thomas, a New Orleans housing undertaking of poor black residents. Not death row exactly, but close. Death is rampant here-f rom guns, disease, and addiction. Medical perplexity scarcely exists.(Prejean, 1994, p. 3) The third and the fourth sentences of the book in chapter 1, give firm indications about the fertile ground for the crimes. Prejean is a Catholic Nun. She is asked to be associated with an about-to-be-hanged criminal. How Divine Forces will tackle the Satan? Her first mental answer was, I wonder what I can say to this man. What will he have to say to me? (Prejean 1994, p. 4)Now the skepticism is how the Catholic Church and social reformation and rehabilitation of the poor and the downtrodden are compatible.The practical problem is, The jurisprudence to practice social justice is un determinedtling because taking on the struggles of the poor invariably supposes challenging the flush(p) and those who serve their interests. Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable-thats what Dorothy Day, a Catholic social activist said is the centerfield of the Christian gospel. 1 (Prejean 1994, p. 5) Rabindranath Tagore writes, thou keepest company with the companionless among the poorest, the lowliest, and the lost. (2) These are poor societies which have too little, but where is the rich society that says, Halt We have enough (5) But when religion develops an agenda to tackle the social problems, some(prenominal) practical situations come to the fore. Social issues are interlinked to politics and economics. Nuns are not social workers in the polished sense, they are religious preachers. They are there to tell you about your personal relationship with God, kindness to others, inner peace and the promised heaven, at the end of this life. Politics is not a respected profession in any country of the world.Religious preachers are ill-equipped to deal with the segments of administration like, bureaucracy, police, politics and judiciary. The continuous interaction is difficult, for every church-going individual may have one problem or the other Sister Marie Augusta Neal, S. N . D. deN, set her thinking straight and changed her perception, as for remaining on the side of poor. She quoted the religious authority for her stand. She was s sociologist. She argued how flake for the glaring inequalities in the world and the religious preaching needs to work together.Apolitical does not mean that you have to side with oppression. For every argument of Prejean, she had well-founded counter arguments, based on religious revelations of passe-partout Jesus. The Gospels record that Jesus preached good news to the poor, she said, and an essential part of that good news was that they were to be poor no longer. Which meant they were not to meekly accept their poverty and suffering as Gods will, but, instead, struggle to get under ones skin the necessities of life which were rightfully theirs. (Prejean, 1994 p. 6. Give me the strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might.(3) Conclusion Reading more religious texts is not the solution to the vexed problems of the day, including crimes, More schooling can help us only if it produces more wisdom. (6). Religious tenets are the revelations of the Perfect Masters (Divine Personalities or Realized Souls), so there is no question of ambiguities in them. Ambiguities are in our understanding. Gregory Baum is one such individual. Mind-level thinking fails to understand the revelations of the souls which have transcended the mind-barrier. In that level it is perfection all around.Initially, Prejean had problems of understanding the religious tenets. As would be seen from the passages analyzed above, she was able to cross that confusing barrier of the mind, and then her religion began to inspire her to ascertain social and spiritual justice and she realized that fight for social justice is the divine ordained business It is the highest spiritual demand Adhering to religious principles doesnt mean that you need to suffer in poverty, where he exemplification of living and working are not only profoundly unsatisfactory but also in a process of accelerating decay.(7) This decay leads to serious crimes.References Dead Man Walking An Eyewitness Account Of The Death Penalty In The United States by Helen Prejean (Author) Paperback 288 pages Publisher Vintage 1st Vintage Books adaptation (May 31, 1994) ISBN-10 0679751319 ISBN-13 978-0679751311 Tagore, Rabindranath . Book Gitanjali Macmillan Co. Ltd, London-1962. 1) P. 1, (2) P. 8, (3) P. 28, (8) p. 84 Schumancher, E. F Book Small is Beautiful Publisher Radha Krishna, Daryaganj, New Delhi (India) (4) P. 19, (5) P. 21 (6) p. 73 (7) p. 159