Dale's Spot

Death Sentence:

An interesting day. Today I got a call from a reporter from the local ABC affiliate. When my secretary told me the call was from a TV reporter I assumed it was someone wanting a sound byte on the DiVinci stuff. Well, I was wrong. They asked if they could come interview me for a story on the death penalty. I said OK. The interview lasted about 30 minutes and when the report came on tonight they used less than two minutes of what I said - they used the only time I studdered and stammered for words - my worst moment of the 30.

I talked of compassion for all involved, of forgiveness and repentance, I talked of appeals and vigilance in being very sure of the facts of a case. I used Romans 13 and Acts 25 as proof of God's support of a death sentence. In Acts 25 Paul in one majestic sentence allows for both the death penalty and the appeals process. But they picked a couple of my weakest quotes in my opinion.

Over the past 20 years I've been interviewed on television more times than I care to count. Its an honor to have such an opportunity. On 9/11 the NBC affiliate called me and did a live interview. To talk to a "wide" audience is a rare opportunity. You'd think by now I would have learned that these interviews rarely are as fruitful as promised.

And it occured to me that my life in this area is like so many lives. I tried but it didn't go as well as I had hoped. Tonight as you pray, pray for those who try and seem to fail and be thankful for a loving God who is the God of the second chance.