Can We Seek Justice Without Wanting Revenge?

Reported news · September 17, 2026

A death sentence the jury had not recommended

Alabama executed Jeffery Lee on September 17. The attorney general's office confirmed the execution and identified Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson as the victims of the 1998 murders for which Lee was convicted. Attorney General Steve Marshall described the execution as justice served; that is the state's stated position.

AP reported that the jury had voted 7–5 for life imprisonment, but the judge imposed death. Alabama ended judicial override in 2017, as the legislature's summary confirms. According to AP, that change did not apply retroactively to existing sentences.

The sentencing history raises difficult questions about punishment and fairness. Remembering those questions should also keep Ellis and Thompson in view as people whose lives were taken. This reflection makes no claim to know what their loved ones feel or what outcome they wanted.

Sources: Attorney General Marshall's Statement on the Execution of Convicted Double-Murderer Jeffery Lee · Alabama carries out execution of Jeffery Lee for 1998 double murder at pawnshop · 2017 General Acts: Act 2017-131, SB16

Scripture observation and editorial application · Romans 12:14–21

Read the call to refuse personal vengeance

Scripture observation — paraphrase: Romans 12:14–21 tells believers to bless persecutors, share others' joy and sorrow, and pursue peace as far as it depends on them. It forbids answering evil with evil or taking revenge. Judgment is entrusted to God, while an enemy's hunger and thirst still call for practical care.

These instructions challenge the desire to make another person suffer because we are angry. They also put companionship with grieving people inside the same passage. A discussion of mercy that rushes past someone's loss has missed part of what readers are asked to attend to.

Editorial application: For people commenting at a distance, a useful question is whether we are seeking a truthful and protective response or enjoying a person's humiliation. We can examine that impulse without telling bereaved people how quickly to forgive. No reader must reconcile with an offender, abandon protection, or suppress a report of harm to participate in this reflection.

• Read Romans 12: Love without pretending

Sources: Romans 12:14–21, Berean Standard Bible

Scripture observation and interpretive limits · Romans 13:1–7

Continue reading: public responsibility remains

Scripture observation — paraphrase: Romans 13:1–7 then addresses governing authority. It calls authorities God's servants for the good, describes their role in responding to wrongdoing, and tells readers to meet obligations involving conscience, taxes, respect and honor. Its image of the sword recognizes coercive public power.

Reading across the chapter boundary matters. Personal nonretaliation in Romans 12 sits alongside public responsibility in Romans 13. A command against private revenge cannot simply stand in for a complete criminal-justice policy.

Editorial interpretation: Neither chapter supplies the evidence, procedures or sentencing rules needed to decide this Alabama case. Calling authority a servant for the good gives readers a serious purpose to consider; it does not establish that every action an authority takes fulfills that purpose. Christian arguments about the death penalty differ in how they read this passage with the rest of Scripture.

Sources: Romans 12:14–21, Berean Standard Bible · Romans 13:1–7, Berean Standard Bible

Tradition positions · two examples, not a complete survey

Name the Christian disagreement honestly

Roman Catholic teaching: The current Catechism, paragraph 2267, rejects the death penalty as incompatible with personal dignity and calls for its worldwide abolition. It emphasizes that grave wrongdoing does not erase dignity and that effective detention can protect society while leaving room for a person to change.

Southern Baptist Convention, 2000 resolution: That meeting's messengers supported capital punishment for murder or treason resulting in death, with demanding conditions concerning evidence of guilt, fair application and humane treatment. The resolution also affirms the dignity of people convicted of serious crimes and calls for care for victims and perpetrators.

An SBC resolution is nonbinding on local churches. This dated statement does not represent every Baptist or Protestant. These two examples establish that the disagreement is real; they do not exhaust Christian positions or authorize treating someone who disagrees as less worthy of care.

Sources: Catechism of the Catholic Church: Respect for Human Life, 2266–2267 · On Capital Punishment · Legal Documentation: Resolutions and Statements of Faith

Editorial application · questions for a careful conversation

Keep five responsibilities in the discussion

Care for victims. What practical support continues after the headline? Begin by listening to what affected people want, without assuming they share one view or asking them to represent a policy position.

Attend to evidence. Separate established facts, a party's argument and your own moral conclusion. A conviction, a sentencing choice and a later change in the law raise related but distinct questions. Do not claim to have resolved a case from one article.

Examine proportion. What should a sentence accomplish: public protection, accountability, deterrence, or rehabilitation? Explain the reasons for your view and engage the strongest objection. A purpose named in general does not prove a particular punishment achieves it.

Face irreversibility. An execution cannot be undone. Any discussion of the power to impose it should take seriously what happens when human judgment fails. This is a general ethical concern, not an assertion that Lee was innocent.

Practice humility. Can you describe another Christian position accurately before criticizing it? Can you discuss a convicted person's dignity while acknowledging the gravity of the crime? Firm moral convictions can be expressed without mockery or delight in death.

Sources: Romans 12:14–21, Berean Standard Bible · Romans 13:1–7, Berean Standard Bible · Catechism of the Catholic Church: Respect for Human Life, 2266–2267 · On Capital Punishment

Limits and optional prayer · patience for grief

Make room for care beyond the argument

This article does not determine a legal appeal, declare anyone's eternal destiny, or prescribe a political vote. It offers a reading and conversation framework. If the subject touches your own loss, you may choose companionship and support rather than public debate. You do not owe this page a forgiveness statement.

Optional prayer: God of justice and mercy, remember those whose lives have been taken and those who grieve them. Give public servants honesty and wisdom. Keep us attentive to suffering, careful with evidence, and willing to examine our desire for revenge. Help us offer care that lasts beyond the argument. Amen.

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Sources: Romans 12:14–21, Berean Standard Bible · Romans 13:1–7, Berean Standard Bible · Bibleward editorial method