RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Commentary: Further Points for Dialogue on the Death Penalty, the Church, and Our Profession
JF Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
JO J Am Acad Psychiatry Law
FD American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
SP 482
OP 484
VO 36
IS 4
A1 John L. Young
YR 2008
UL http://jaapl.org/content/36/4/482.abstract
AB The invitation to dialogue on the subject of the death penalty is both important for our time and challenging in what it calls forth from us. It forces us to recognize both the fundamental privacy of individual intention and the potential breadth of its reach. It can deepen our sense of responsibility for what happens to others on our account, even in the apparent absence of intention. The astonishing power of the spoken word should be harnessed by cooperative dialogue to focus its consequences more sharply on the demands of justice. We need dialogue to attend faithfully to our deepest obligations and longings.