Christianity and the death penalty

Sir, – I note that when Dr Sean Alexander Smith (Letters, April 22nd) disagrees with Mary Stewart on the subject of the death penalty he quotes as his champion on the subject Antonin Scalia of the US Supreme Court: “the more Christian a country is the less likely it is to regard the death penalty as immoral”.

It should be noted that Judge Scalia has also defended the infamous Second Amendment protecting an individual’s right to bear arms, a policy that continues to cause havoc in American society. Antonin Scalia is definitely not the individual I’d be quoting to support an argument in favour of the death penalty – a distinctly barbaric act. Yours, etc,

GEOFF SCARGILL,

Loreto Grange,

Bray,

Co Wicklow