Life and Death Matters (e-book) (used book) | bookbook.eu

Description

A white Southerner from a middle-class family, physician Robert Baldwin inherited an outlook on race and criminal justice typical of his segregated society, but gradually began to question these assumptions. Challenged in a public policy class to examine the issues surrounding capital punishment, Baldwin found his views indefensible. The more he learned about inequalities within the criminal justice system, the more he felt compelled to act. A confrontation with his own mortality and his deepening spiritual development led Baldwin into death row ministry. Today, he visits with inmates and teaches people on the outside about the myths and misconceptions about prisons and criminal justice. Baldwin's memoir details his remarkable spiritual journey from supporter to opponent of the death penalty. In a conversational, first-person style, he lays out the argument against the death penalty, including racial bias in convictions and sentencing, and the debate over rehabilitation versus punishment. Baldwin approaches his topic from a declared Christian perspective, and he often addresses himself directly to other Christians, but his book is thoughtful and provocative and will prove enlightening to persons of all faiths.