Hi Mr Hamilton,<\/p>\n
I hope you’re doing well. I had a question if you don’t mind answering. My wife and I recently had a trial against her rapist, and he got sentenced to 50 years in prison with all his charges. She heard it’s a sin to sentence someone to prison when they’ll likely die there, considering their age. I don’t know of anything like this, and told her it was her rapists actions that landed him the rest of his life behind bars, and that it wouldn’t be any fault of hers since she’s the victim. She said she was told it was inhumane to do that, which is why it’s a sin.<\/p>\n
Could you explain this to us?<\/p>\n
Thank you for your time, as always.<\/p>\n\t
“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil<\/em>” (Romans 13:1-4).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
God gives governments the authority to punish those who commit evil acts. This can include executing the criminal, as seen in the phrase “it does not bear the sword for nothing<\/em>.” Thus, if someone dies while in prison, say for committing a mass murder, God does not call this sinful. If this is true for heinous crimes, then it would also be acceptable that a 90-year-old caught stealing could be sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. He might die before he is released, but that is not morally wrong. What was morally wrong was the crime he committed.<\/p>\n
The Psalmist points out that the wicked are responsible for the results of their sins:<\/p>\n
“God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day. If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts. Behold, he travails with wickedness, and he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood. He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, and has fallen into the hole which he made. His mischief will return upon his own head, and his violence will descend upon his own pate<\/em>” (Psalms 7:11-16).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The victim is never held guilty for the punishment of the wicked.<\/p>\n
The man chose to rape an innocent woman, and it sounds like your wife was not his only victim. Relative to past punishments for crime, he got off lightly with a 50-year sentence, since it used to be that rape carried a death penalty. Whether he lives long enough to get out of jail is not the issue.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Hi Mr Hamilton, I hope you’re doing well. I had a question if you don’t mind answering. My wife and I recently had a trial against her rapist, and he got sentenced to 50 years in prison with all his charges. She heard it’s a sin to sentence someone to prison when they’ll likely…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[880,1851,1850,669],"class_list":["post-89671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-capital-punishment","tag-jail","tag-prison","tag-punishment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36206,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-know-why-my-boyfriend-was-divorced\/","url_meta":{"origin":89671,"position":0},"title":"How can I know why my boyfriend was divorced?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I'm a member of the church of Christ and my boyfriend became a member a few months ago. We have been seeing each other for a year and a half. He told me that he was married before, but they were only married for about two months before\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49083,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-this-thing-is-from-me-mean\/","url_meta":{"origin":89671,"position":1},"title":"What does “This thing is from Me” mean?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My sister was in jail and while there she took an interest in religion. But when she got out of jail, she no longer has any interest in Bible study or religion. That makes me sad. 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She met him through Bible study with a group from a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53295,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-do-if-you-cant-worship-with-faithful-brethren\/","url_meta":{"origin":89671,"position":3},"title":"What do you do if you can’t worship with faithful brethren?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've read everything I could find on your page concerning worship alone. I know already that communion and singing are out of the question. So where does that leave someone who is in prison for life or far away from anyone or group that teaches and holds to sound\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14367,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-mother-thought-she-was-a-witch-could-she-have-harmed-someone\/","url_meta":{"origin":89671,"position":4},"title":"My mother thought she was a witch. Could she have harmed someone?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 22, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I do have a question, but it is a hard one for me to ask, or even acknowledge, and talk about. But here goes. Please bear with me. My mother, before she died, claimed to be a witch. This was hard on me. I didn't realize it then, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27609,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-adultery-be-an-ongoing-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":89671,"position":5},"title":"How can adultery be an ongoing sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've read a lot of information on marriage and remarriage. I see the stand is being taken that God does not honor divorce; hence, will not honor a second marriage unless for the woman it was because of adultery. 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