I’m sure the left won’t see it like that, but Gov. John Hickenlooper is a coward for shirking responsibility because he has simply opted to do absolutely nothing where convicted murderer Nathan Dunlap is concerned. In 1993, Dunlap shot and killed four people (wounding a fifth), three of them teenagers at a Chuck E. Cheese he used to work at.
Like many on the left, their pity, their sympathy, and even their empathy goes out to people like Dunlap, yet their complete inability to see Dunlap’s victims as actual victims is unreal. This is the result of political correctness. Why? Because political correctness identifies Nathan Dunlap – a black man – as a victim of society himself. As a victim, was he really in his right mind when he gunned down four people decades ago? Was he wrongfully found guilty and given the death penalty because he’s black? Nathan Dunlap’s status as a “victim” trumps that of his victims.
Gov. Hickenlooper is on the left. Because of it, his conscience was having a conniption fit over whether or not to allow Dunlap’s execution or grant clemency. What did he do? He did what any natural born non-leader would do. He ultimately signed an executive order temporarily putting off Dunlap’s execution (or clemency) until the next governor sits behind the governor’s desk. What? Yep. Couldn’t make a decision, so he found a way to make his non-decision binding so he wouldn’t have to deal with it again. Kudos.
In Genesis 9, God told Noah that anyone who deliberately and with malice aforethought takes another human life, his life shall be taken. Why? As God explains – to kill another human being is to essentially strike out at God Himself because humanity was created in God’s image. Up to that point in time, capital punishment did not exist and there was no law that said “do not murder.” This is why Cain was not charged with the crime of murder, but with simply bringing the wrong sacrifice to God. Cain knew about the correct sacrifice to bring, but could argue that no one ever told him he should not take someone else’s life (cf. Genesis 4).
When someone is put to death because of their crimes, we’re not supposed to be delighted about that. We are not to be filled with glee. It is a sad occasion, because the life of another human being is taken. That is the way God commands it.
I know Christians who believe in clemency. They argue that because God is love and mercy, no one should be executed today. If that’s what they think, fine. I’m not going to argue and maybe it’s better to err on the side of compassion in at least some cases. However, the facts have proved that Dunlap killed four people in cold blood. Four people. He apparently boasted about the killings later and while in prison had a tattoo inked on which says, “By Any Means Necessary.” The left says, “Look, Dunlap is a victim himself (sniff, sniff). He didn’t ask for his life. Should he continue to pay for being a victim?”
Roxanne White, Gov. Hickenlooper’s chief of staff has gotten involved in the situation. A graduate from Lewis and Clark College (with a degree in Religious Studies) tweeted at one point a tweet that had racial overtones. She tweeted, “CO has three on death row. All from same judicial dist, all African American men from the same high school.” Her point appears to be that these three blacks had cards stacked against them because of their ethnicity.
Yet as one report notes, “White’s race-baiting, while not surprising coming from someone on the left, has been directly refuted by African-American Democratic Rep. Rhonda Fields’ daughter, Maisha Fields, in a legislative hearing about repealing the death penalty.”
If we listen to White, we should naturally come to the conclusion that Dunlap received the death penalty solely because he is black. That is the way the left thinks and they use political correctness to arrive to that conclusion. Dunlap receiving the death penalty has nothing to do with the fact that he killed four people in cold blood, right?
Look, frankly, if all death sentences were commuted to life in prison without parole, I would be okay with that. It would give the perpetrators time to consider eternity. It might also provide more opportunity for truly innocent people to be exonerated. I’m not hard nose about ensuring that everyone who kills in this life is executed. At the same time, if people are executed for the murders they commit, then they are executed. It saddens me, but we will all leave this life at one point in time. Not one of us knows when that will happen.
The actual penalty is not the death penalty. The execution is merely the door through which some people pass to get into eternity. The penalty phase begins at that point once they enter into eternity.
Ultimately, what Gov. Hickenlooper did by sloughing off the decision with respect to Dunlap onto the next governor is the height of cowardice. The case has gone through the courts. Apparently, Dunlap has exhausted all of his appeals. It was the governor’s turn to allow the execution to stay or offer clemency. Hickenlooper did neither. He showed us that he has no principles at all. Yet, he stated in a press conference, “Obviously this has weighed heavily on me for over a year now and it was obvious that inaction wasn’t an option.”
I’m confused. Gov. Hickenlooper states that he realized that inaction was not an option so he made a decision. His decision was to do nothing and let someone else deal with it. Isn’t that the same as inaction? I guess the left has a unique definition for everything, don’t they?
My heart goes out to the families who continue to live with the tragedy brought on them by Nathan Dunlap. They will have justice one day. During this time when Dunlap has been given a bit of a reprieve, I hope God is able to work in his heart so that he will come to understand how heinous his actions were decades ago. I hope that God will soften his heart so that Dunlap will see his need for Christ. There is hope while he lives and I wish I could say that for his victims.
As far as Gov. Hickenlooper is concerned, he is the perfect example of the man who Christ describes as being neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm. Because of that, Jesus says He will spew (vomit) that person out of His mouth (cf. Revelation 3:16). I would hate for Christ to say that about me.
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