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	September 2003
		A Quick Word by Paul Grayston
			Is it right? Life is a precious gift from God. When lives are destroyed deliberately and violently we are rightly outraged. 202 people, including 88 Australians, were killed in the Bali bombing last October. Each one was a unique person, their lives a gift from God and their loss an agony for family and friends. The attack also left many others injured or affected by burns. The feelings of many that the Bali bomber Amrozi bin Nurhasyim 'deserves to die' are understandable. Yet this murdering fanatic's life must be spared. His life is from God and is of value, just as surely as the lives of the victims of his vicious attack. He too is 'fearfully and wonderfully made' (Psalm 139). What can Amrozi's death by firing squad possibly achieve? Martyrdom and hero status? Further revenge and reprisals? The least likely result will be the deterrent effect hoped for. Nothing will deter or deflect the Amrozis of this world. In any case, even if such deterrence were effective, would that make his death right? Is it right to cut off the hands of thieves? Or to transport them to Tasmania for life? Or stone adulterers to death? These are powerful deterrents, certainly, but it that enough to justify such barbaric punishments? We are told that his death would bring comfort to the victims' families. 'Closure' they call it. How odd to suppose that another death can make the victims' deaths easier to bear, or that an end to grief and loss can be purchased instantly by a human sacrifice. 'No man is an island, and any man's death diminishes me.' (John Donne) Similar alarm bells rang for me when the deaths of Saddam's sons, Uday and Qusay were announced with such glee on the 22nd of July. Even if their demise does yield the various benefits claimed, it is disturbing that the deaths of people should ever be greeted with delight. 'Thou shalt do no murder' goes back all the way to Moses' time. If it is ever wrong to murder, then murder is always wrong. The value of human life is a principle to be clung to, lest we sink to the level of the bombers and murderers themselves. God 'desirest not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn from his wickedness and live' (Evening Prayer, BCP). It was Jesus who taught us that the real test of love is our love for those we regard as enemies. Amrozi's plight forces us to consider whether we love life itself or are more concerned with the desire to get even or, worse still, to serve political goals. We should never take delight or comfort in murder, even in the murder of killers. All life is a precious gift from God.