Helen Prejean

one of our nations most controversial issues: capital punishment. The books narrator, Sister Helen Prejean, discusses her personal views on capital punishment. She was a spiritual advisor and friend to two death row inmates; Elmo Patrick Sonnier and Robert Lee Willie. From her experiences, she developed views on the death penalty. She believed it was morally wrong and spoke openly about it. Sister Helen successfully defends her views on capital punishment while stating that capital punishment should

Sister Helen Prejean. In the film, a Louisiana nun becomes spiritual advisor to a convict on death row, and tries to get him to accept responsibility for his actions. I believe religion and the death penalty are the two main focuses in the film. The convict, portrayed by Penn, has been on death row for six years. He was one of two men convicted of a double murder and a rape. The other guy was not sentenced to death, only life without

"Death is a unique punishment in the United States. In a society that so strongly affirms the sanctity of life, not surprisingly the common view is that death is the ultimate sanction... There has been no national debate about punishment in general or by imprisonment, comparable to the debate about the punishment of death" (Brennan).      Indeed, the issue of capital punishment is one that has been widely debated and for which many persuasive arguments of distinctly opposing viewpoints are available

The SCHR organization In 1970, after the increase in size of the Criminal Justice System the number of imprisoned increased from around 200,000 to over 2 million making United States the highest in incarceration rate of all nations in the world. The purpose of SCHR is to end abuses in prison, represent death penalty cases, and stopping inhumane criminal justice practices. The Southern Center for Human Rights was founded by activists concerned about criminal justice system and the horrendous conditions

avenged. Especially by government--which can't be trusted to control its own bureaucrats or collect taxes equitably or fill a pothole, much less decide which of its citizens to kill.” ― Helen Prejean, Dead Man Walking: The Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty That Sparked a National Debate. Sister Helen Prejean should be considered hero because she visited and ministered to people on death roge, she helped some of them believe in something greater than them. She is a hero also because she wrote

narrative within the United States. Those in the Christian narrative follow the standard of loving your neighbor as yourself, but your neighbor is every person, even a man like Matthew Poncelet in Dead Man Walking. This is where the character, Sister Helen Prejean, fights with following the principle of love how a Christian should against how culture says a Christian ought to follow it. This command of love initially appears in the book of Leviticus: "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your

Etty Hillesum was a young, Jewish woman who resided in Holland during World War II. She was a progressive woman, “Defying the gender stereotypes of her time and place, she had worked steadily for years and years to cultivate the sort of richly faceted identity that few women of her time achieved” (64). And despite coming from a Jewish lineage, she never closely observed the religion instead, chose to forge her own religious path. She began writing diaries documenting her daily life as a part of her

                                                   Capital Punishment in Dead Man Walking      “This is not a nice man … innocent is not a word that suits him in any way,” says Brian Webster when speaking of Matthew Poncelet,

The film Dead Man Walking depicts the life of an inmate sentenced to the death penalty through lethal injection. The film portrays prison as grim, isolated and lonely place. The life of prisoners in the film live in agony and suffering. The main issue with prison shown by the film is the death penalty. In specific the main character, Matthew Poncelet has been incarcerated for six years, still awaiting his execution. Furthermore, Matthew Poncelet appeals to another court showing the death penalty

Man walking”, Sister Helen Prejean emphasizes human’s fear of death motivates a need to seek forgiveness and life’s purpose. These humans on death row fear no afterlife is available or their life was not manifested to the fullest potential. Sister Helen Prejean in this piece represents eternal life and comfort. “ I put my hand on his shoulder