<\/p>\n
Robert Jeffress, senior pastor at the First Baptist Church Dallas, speaks at the Republican convention in Dallas, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
The Rev. Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Church Dallas, said he supports the Pentagon\u2019s announcement this week that the execution of the Fort Hood shooter will be public and livestreamed<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The execution by firing squad will be the first public execution in the United States in recent memory. The death penalty<\/a> has long been a subject of morality for religious Americans, and the reinstatement of public viewing presents a new ethical and moral front on the topic as other religious leaders, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, were quick to condemn the announcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jeffress, an influential evangelical voice in American religion and politics, said in a social media post<\/a> Friday that capital punishment has grounds in the Bible.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cCapital punishment is commanded by God in Genesis 9:6 to remind people of the sanctity of human life,\u201d\u00a0said Jeffress, whose church is nationally recognized. \u201cThe more people that can see that truth illustrated through a public execution, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n The Army announced this week that the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan<\/a> would take place at Fort Hood on Dec. 3. Hasan, a psychiatrist who was a major in the Army,\u00a0was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in a shooting at the military base in 2009. The Pentagon said Thursday the execution will be livestreamed, although\u00a0Vice President JD Vance<\/a> on Friday cast doubt on the plan to livestream it.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to the Death Penalty Information Center<\/a>, the last state-sanctioned public execution in America took place in Kentucky in 1936. Executions have never been broadcast in the United States and the practice is rare worldwide, Reuters<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n Related:\u00a0Editorial: Mr. President, don\u2019t make\u00a0Nidal Hasan\u2019s execution public<\/a><\/p>\n Jeffress has long supported the death penalty. In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Jeffress further quoted the Book of Genesis, saying that God\u2019s first law given to the biblical figure Noah was, \u201cwhoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cGod was saying life is so sacred, it is a gift from me, that anyone who takes it needs to suffer the ultimate penalty,\u201d\u00a0Jeffress said. \u201cCapital punishment for society isn’t God’s suggestion; it’s God’s command.\u201d<\/p>\n He said Scripture from the New Testament supports the death penalty, citing the Book of Romans.\u00a0Jeffress said the broadcast of the execution is compatible with Christian Scripture as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSince God gave capital punishment to be an object lesson for society to teach them the sanctity of life, it would follow that the more people who see it, the better it is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Jeffress said he would likely watch the execution.<\/p>\n In the past century, Catholics and mainline branches of Protestantism have questioned the death penalty, said D. Stephen Long, a professor of ethics at Southern Methodist University\u2019s Perkins School of Theology. Long said broadcasting an execution presents new ground on the topic of capital punishment from a religious and moral perspective.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI see it as a recovery of a kind of vicious theology,\u201d Long said of religious support for broadcasting the execution. \u201cIt’s part of an almost sociopathic view of God that delights in death and destruction and harm.\u201d<\/p>\n Related: From prominent pastors to JD Vance, GOP leaders are centering Christianity in their get-out-the-vote messages<\/a><\/p>\n Josh Howerton, the senior pastor of megachurch Lakepointe Church in Rockwall, who has built a large online following, said in a social media post he \u201chesitantly\u201d points out that executions in the Bible \u201cwere performed publicly before \u2018all the assembly,\u2019\u201d and quoted the Book of Leviticus.<\/p>\n In his post on X<\/a>, Howerton went on to say: \u201cSome are misinterpreting this as me saying the government is always commanded to do this, or that it is always wise,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m simply pointing out it is what is prescribed (not just described) in the Bible, so I do not think you can say it\u2019s unbiblical or automatically wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n Some who support the death penalty however said they abhorred the idea of livestreaming the execution. Jeff Leach, a Republican state lawmaker representing Collin County who is vocal about his Christian faith, said Thursday he supports the firing squad method, but called livestreaming it \u201cSick. Childish. Petulant. Stupid. And dark<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cBloodlust isn\u2019t Biblical,\u201d Leach said in a social media post. \u201cAnd it shouldn\u2019t be something we celebrate or elevate in America.\u201d<\/p>\n The use of a firing squad has also been condemned by some religious leaders, which has not been used by the military since World War II.\u00a0<\/p>\n U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops<\/a> denounced the plan Friday. The Catholic Church formally opposes<\/a>\u00a0capital punishment in all circumstances.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a statement<\/a>, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the group, called the announcement \u201ca barbaric promotion of a culture of death,\u201d and called on the government to reconsider.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe word of God exhorts us: \u2018do not repay anyone evil for evil’ (Romans 12:17),\u201d Coakley said, quoting the New Testament of the Bible. \u201cThe public execution even of one who has done grave harm will only further undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people.” \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Catholic Fort Worth Bishop Michael\u00a0Olson<\/a> asked for prayers Friday, \u201cfor greater respect for human life and for our deliverance from a culture of death in all its forms.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n