The Southern Presbyterian Church last week marched boldly up to pronouncing disapproval of capital punishmentand then got hung up on a point of order. A committee that had worked for a year recommended the new stand to the church's annual assembly in Dallas, only to have a Georgia clergyman point out that the answer to Question 136 of the Larger Catechism ("What sins are forbidden in the Sixth Commandment?") exempts the taking of life for "public justice, lawful warfare" or just defense." Embarrassedly, the delegates backed off, and the death penalty remains Presbyterian policy.
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