By Scott Tibbs, November 19, 2013
A death penalty case in Ohio makes a mockery of capital punishment and places the Republican governor in direct rebellion against the clear commandment of Almighty God.
Twenty years ago, Ronald Phillips committed a horrific and unimaginable crime for which he was sentenced to death. He is forty years old now, and has spent half of his life behind bars. Now, Gov. John Kasich has delayed this evil man's long-overdue execution to see if the condemned man can donate a kidney to his mother.
The fact that this man is literally twice as old now as he was when he committed crimes worthy of death shows that the death penalty is a complete joke. The death penalty is meaningless when it is applied in such a manner. This man should have been put to death by the civil magistrate many years ago.
Almighty God makes it very clear in Scripture what He things of child murder and what He expects to happen to child murderers. God warns the nation of Israel in Leviticus 20:1-5 that those who sacrifice their children to the demon Molech are to be put to death, and that He will set His face against the Israelites if they do not execute those who commit this abomination. God further says in Jeremiah 7:31 and Jeremiah 32:35 that this crime is so horrible that it never even entered into His mind that men would do this.
It is good that Gov. Kasich has compassion on the condemned man's mother. But as my high school principal would say, "it is never right to do wrong in order to get a chance to do right." Delaying this man's execution cannot be excused or justified. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 13:1-4 that God has given the sword to the civil magistrate to be the agent of God's wrath upon the wicked. Kasich should repent of his rebellion against God and use that sword.
But what of the condemned man's mother? Is the omnipotent Creator of the universe so weak and helpless that He cannot provide another donor to save this woman's life? Of course not. Kasich, who claims to be a Christian, should trust in God's power to provide what this woman needs and follow through on his obligations through faith.
