TCASK is so grateful to Belmont University, particularly to Dr. Todd Lake, for bringing Sister Helen Prejean to Nashville for a presentation at Belmont on Monday. She received a standing ovation from those in attendance after sharing her story and reflecting upon the power of the arts to move people to new places and new understandings regarding difficult issues such as the death penalty. Belmont was quite gracious in sharing Sister Helen with TCASK as she participated in our press conference joining clergy from across the state to urge the Governor to extend the moratorium.
After a lunch in her honor at Belmont, Alex and I whisked Sister Helen away to prepare for our press conference at 3:30. As we were racing around the office attending to last minute details, Sister Helen got a little shut eye on our donated office sofa. We decided to capture the moment by taking her picture (of course, we asked first!) It is not everyday that Sister Helen takes a nap in one’s office.
We are deeply grateful to Sister Helen for her witness to the love and mercy of God through her tireless efforts to abolish the death penalty in this country. Sister, you can crash on our sofa anytime!
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In response to this qtoiusen, I would say that the most effective factor in Sister Helen’s storytelling, at least in my opinion, is her overwhelming and accurate presentation of evidence for the innocence of the two men. To be completely honest, when I first got this book I was under the impression that it would simply be stories dripping with pathos for the two men, relying on the readers inherent sense of compassion to convince them of the mens’ innocence. I was therefore pleasantly surprised when I discovered just how much evidence Sister Helen utilized in her argument. Not only was it expansive (her presentation of evidence takes up the first eight to ten pages of the first two chapters) but it was also very well thought-out in it’s layout; she was not just stating facts, she obviously is completely aware of how all the bits and pieces fit together to create a picture of innocence for the two men. Her storytelling strategy of including so much convincing evidence made her argument that the death penalty system is corrupt and failing so much more persuasive. This way, the reader most likely agrees with Sister Helen in regards to the innocence of the two men after the first few pages of each chapter, even the cynical reader who supports the death penalty. In proving the mens’ innocence before she begins dismantling the current death row system, Sister Helen has effectively gained the support of every single possible reader. After all, no one wants to see innocent people executed for crimes they didn’t commit, even those who fanatically support the death penalty as an eye-for-an-eye sort of deal, so who can argue that our system is not in some way flawed if men who so obviously did not commit the accused crime can be sentenced to death so easily and absolutely? It is not until after she has garnered the reader’s support that Sister Helen begins to delve into the deficiencies of the death penalty system. In these sections, I believe that Sister Helen’s argument’s greatest strength comes from the fact that she does not advocate aggressively for the complete dismantling of the death penalty. While it is true that she admits that she does not believe the death penalty is just, in the first half of the book she spends the majority of her time writing about the inefficiencies and pitfalls in the current system. This way, no one can deny what she is saying, for no one can deny that there must be problems in the system if, again, men who seem so innocent can be sentenced to death so easily. The most beautiful part about all this, in my opinion, is how both of these major aspects of Sister Helen’s writing hinge on one another. The diligent and scientific presentation of evidence is what makes the reader agree with Sister Helen from the beginning, making her arguments about the death penalty system possible to make. But at the same time, her initial capturing of the readers’ support only remains effective because of her caution to never blindly denounce the death penalty all-together like a stereotypical member of the church, an act that would certainly cause the loss of quite a few readers. All together, her duel-faceted argument is very sound indeed. After all, when I first began reading this I was a fairly firm supporter of the death penalty. Now, due to Sister Helen’s book, I am beginning to waver in my belief that it is just, for while I have not lost my support for it’s principle I have lost my support for it’s practice. And while this may seem like a technicality to some, to me it is a small sign that Sister Helen’s book is slowly accomplishing it’s task of opening our nation’s eyes.