In March, our director of public information, Kristin Collins, was asked to give a sermon about the death penalty at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh, where she is a member. She told a very personal story of how she learned the truth about our state’s deeply racist criminal punishment system and made a compelling argument for why every North Carolinian should join the grassroots movement to end the death penalty. It was a good reminder that, as Kristin said, “Whether we accept or reject the death penalty is not about what happens to other people. It’s about who we are and the kind of world we want to live in.”
We hope you’ll take the time to watch Kristin’s talk, which lasts about ten minutes. It is followed by a very moving sermon by our friend Andre Smith, who told the story of losing his son to murder and then committing his life to ending the death penalty and working with men in prison, helping them turn their lives around. Once you’ve listened, I hope you will be inspired to get more involved in the growing grassroots effort to ask Gov. Cooper to commute North Carolina’s death sentences to prison terms.
Kristin describes it this way:
I can tell you from personal experience that we’re building a joyful movement of people who believe a better world is possible. And whether or not we convince North Carolina’s politicians to abolish the death penalty, I know that being part of this work has allowed me to become a little more free. It has allowed me to let go of that old punishment mindset and see that most of the things wrong in the world are better solved with love and compassion. It has allowed me to be a little less quick to judge — and to recognize that we all have the potential to do harm and to repair.
Learn more about the campaign and how to get involved here.