High Execution Rate In Texas Attributed To Conservative Christian Influence

A Reuters article yesterday focuses on the large number of executions carried out by the Texas penal system-- almost 400 so far this year. It attributes this emphasis on capital punishment in large part to "the influence of the state's conservative evangelical Christians." SMU political science Professor Matthew Wilson says: "A lot of evangelical Protestants not only believe that capital punishment is permissible but that it is demanded by God. And they see sanction for that in the Old Testament especially."