US also executes unfairly

It seemed strange that the same week IU hosted a series of events on our country's death penalty system, an international debate began to arise over the imminent stoning of a Nigerian woman, Amina Lawal. She committed the most offensive, horrifying crime of all when she had a baby (Gasp!). Of course it's not black and white, as she's been accused of adultery. Still, many people around the world recognize that her punishment is unusually cruel for a "crime" that didn't directly cause another person harm. \nGroups throughout the United States such as Amnesty International are now urging the U.S. government to condemn the ruling by Nigeria's Katsina state. \nI appreciate the efforts of these groups, and hopefully someone will step in before it's too late. But what do protesters expect from a government that regularly executes its own criminals? \nSure, the United States saves its executions for the "worst of the worst" as Indiana Deputy Attorney General Thomas Perkins explained at the Union Board's presentation, "Two Views: The Death Penalty." This includes criminals convicted of crimes such as multiple killings and murder of police officers.\nIt is easy to see how these crimes are more serious than the crime of adultery. Still, how can the United States condemn Nigeria for doing virtually the same thing it does?\nSomething Sister Helen Prejean, author of "Dead Man Walking" and an avid death penalty protester, said at the Union Board presentation stuck with me. She said, "We are all worth more than the worst thing we ever did in our life." \nIf this is true, then who has the right to judge what crime is punishable by death? We need punishment, and we need prisons to protect citizens from those who, for example, commit acts of violence or theft. However, deciding who lives and who dies is something that should not be left up to ordinary humans.\nIn examining this topic, I keep coming back to something I learned in Catholic school. In the Bible, Jesus said to a group of people preparing to stone an adulterous woman, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." (John 8:7) Don't worry, I'm not trying to pull a Jim Gilles on you. This is simply an interesting philosophy in the context of this discussion. Obviously, we can compare the woman in the Biblical story to Lawal. Have those who convicted her lived completely innocent lives? What about the father of her baby, who was let go because of a lack of evidence? \nOn the other hand, we can compare the situation in a different way. The rest of the world is casting stones at the Katsina government for punishing Lawal in this horrible way.\nOur country, for one, commits acts much like the one Nigeria is being condemned for. \nIf the United States is to be an effective world leader in the fight against injustices like this, it must first rid itself of the injustice it inflicts on its own people. \nWhile you're writing your representatives to encourage them to condemn stoning, why not include electrocution, lethal injection and death by firing squad on that list? Maybe then we will have the \nauthority to cast stones.