A Life Against Death

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A Life Against Death: The Work of Sister Helen Prejean
Sister Helen Prejean was a spiritual advisor to Patrick Sonier. A death row convicts at Louisiana’s Angola State Prison. He was executed in 1984. Sr. Prejean witnessed his electrocution. She described it as “a cold calculated protocol of death” (Rose vines. “A Life Against Death: The Work of Sister Helen Prejean.”) After the experience, she felt the need to let the American people know of the repercussions of the death penalty. It’s prompting her to write the book Dead Man Walking.
Other than the perpetrator, execution also affects the accused loved ones. They are affected emotionally, psychologically and financially as others lose their breadwinners. The guards are also affected. They are obliged to partake in taking someone’s life. As a result, some are affected mentally and psychologically.
Jesus used parables to make people reflect on their actions. Sr. Prejean has perfected the art of getting people involved in her advocacy on death penalty through stories. She says she found out that when people hear the story and you take them to both sides, the perpetrator’s side and the victim’s side, they get it. She brings people into the story and makes them reflect on the death penalty. She says stories move emotions and help people work through the heart (Captain Darwin, “Sister Prejean on the Death Penalty”).
Death penalty causes social injustices in the society. Legal punishment by death infringes on the most fundamental human right.

It flouts the right that States must acknowledge the right to life. The capital punishment breaches the prohibition against cruelty and inhuman treatment. Punishing of criminals without offering guidance towards restoration also fuels social injustices.
Faith in the gospel plays a major role in Sr. Helen’s work. She takes activism against the death penalty as a form of religious and spiritual practice. Sr. Helen shares her faith journey by spreading the “Gospel of Justice” (Captain Darwin, “Sister Prejean on the Death Penalty.”). Faith also augments her will to fight the death penalty. According to her, no matter the circumstances God condemns murder.
Works Cited
Captain Darwin. “Sister Prejean on the Death Penalty.” YouTube, YouTube, 19 June 2013,www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDguUnTaZiURose vines. “A Life Against Death: The Work of Sister Helen Prejean.” YouTube, YouTube,30Oct.2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_WG_Km-DIEeen.