JUDGEMENT VERSUS MERCY

Ten years after he was convicted of murdering off –duty police officer Mark Macphail, and to the gathering of the almost one million in support of his innocence, Troy Davis was executed without mercy by lethal injection in savannah, Georgia, USA, on Wednesday Sept. 21, 2011.

Davis’ case led to the intense debates around the world regarding the USA judicial system and the practice of the death penalty.

From the original trial, Davis remained steadfast on the claim that he was innocent until he was executed. A petition requesting clemency for Davis reached over six hundred and sixty thousand (660, 000) signatures that included prominent names such as former President Jimmy Carter and Pope Benedict (XVI).

Jonah, a reluctant Prophet, had predicted overthrow of Nineveh in forty days. However, everyone in the immoral city had repented. As a result, impending disaster on them was averted, because they believed in God and was forgiven. Jonah was therefore angry so much that, he wished he could die.

In His wisdom, God dealt with Jonah with patient, never in anger. There are many Jonah today; not deserving any clemency or pardon for repentant sinners. They hold that mercy for the guilty is cruelty to the innocent, forgetting that, they must also rely on God’s mercy if their sins are to be forgiven. Our God delights in mercy for people who truly repent, like the Ninevites.

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