8
Alan Stephens was still on the job. He was someone I could reach out to, ask for a favor and trust too. It was the Tonto and Lone Ranger thing. He saved me, so you’d think I owed him, but he’s never asked for a thing, and he keeps offering me his hand.
It was best not to see him at his office in the police building downtown. So I caught up with him at the Bible study group he runs for men in law enforcement. There’s talk of making it people in law enforcement and letting women in, but right now the thinking is to let them start their own group, women in law enforcement, a separate-but-equal thing.
“As men in law enforcement,” Alan said in his introductory statement, “we may well find ourselves in that terrible situation where we have to take someone else’s life. Maybe in self-defense or to protect someone else. Sometimes we may unintentionally cause someone’s death. We’ve all known car chases that resulted in a death—to one of our own, to the person running away, or most upsetting of all, to an innocent bystander.
“As Christians, we are fortunate to have God’s Word, his Holy Book, to guide us. The Bible is very clear—make no mistake about this—killing is not wrong. Especially if you kill in defense of what is right. Then you’re doing God’s work, and it is righteous.
“Let’s cut to the chase. We’ve all heard the Sixth Commandment quoted as ‘Thou shalt not kill.’
“That’s wrong. It’s a bad translation. It really, truly is . . . what it should be—and I will show you the Hebrew and the best dictionaries—what it should be—and in some Bibles you will see it the correct way—it should be, ‘Thou shalt not murder.’ That’s what God carved into the stone with his fiery finger, and it is what God meant.
“Murder is the wrongful and intentional taking of a life.
“Murder is wrong. And, in fact, God decrees the death penalty for murder. That is obviously the intentional taking of a life, but it is righteous and God approves, in fact God commands, the righteous taking of life.
“Why does God support the death penalty? For the very same reasons that we believe in it. Deuteronomy 19:20, ‘And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.’
“The strange thing, and the thing that may trouble many of us in law enforcement, is that every time we have an execution, or possible execution, there are ministers out marching against the death penalty to save the murderer.
“Think about this. What does Satan want? He wants to convince people that there are no consequences for their actions. So that they will feel free—free to murder, to fornicate, to commit adultery. Free to do anything because there are no consequences. God’s law is that there are consequences, that there is punishment, even for his chosen people, should they commit error.
“So why would a so-called reverend take up Satan’s work? Or fail to realize that he is taking up Satan’s work? Satan uses his own good-intentioned weakness to seduce him to try to seduce us.
“How can that that happen? you may wonder. Lack of Bible study. Even preachers and pastors, and certainly priests—Catholics don’t actually read the Bible—you know that, don’t you?”
“Anyway,” Alan said, coming back to the point, “God wants judges and police and soldiers here on earth. To keep earthly order, to keep His order, to protect the innocent, to protect His nations, His beloved followers, and He is not a fool, and neither was Jesus Christ a fool. They understand we live here in real life, with real problems, so they gave us this book with real solutions.
“So if you see a crank fiend, and he is holding up a roadside attraction, and there is danger to yourself or to civilians, you should not be afraid to terminate his existence on the spot, if that is what’s necessary. You are doing God’s work. Don’t harm yourself with guilt afterward. You are doing God’s work.
“If you see a terrorist, and he is plotting to go to the university and bomb it because it is critical of Islam, do not hesitate to use any means necessary to stop him and save innocent life.
“And our work here today is to see that this is written down for us in scripture. Because, in something so serious as taking a life, we need to know we’re on the right side.”
For the next forty or fifty minutes, we talked about Numbers 35:17–19, which ordains the death penalty; Matthew 5:17–18 and Luke 16:187, in which Jesus is very clear that he is here to enforce the old law; Exodus 2:11–12, in which Moses slew an Egyptian who was smiting a Hebrew, the sort of thing a cop can easily be called upon to do; and First Samuel 17:1–51, the story of David and Goliath, in which David, with God’s help and God’s blessing, killed someone who was threatening God’s people.
Afterward, when we broke for coffee but most of the guys rushed off to work, I found a moment to be alone with Alan.
“I’m kinda stuck here,” I said. “GGW&G, they’re my best client. I said I would take the job, and I don’t like to go back on my word.”
He nodded. He could understand that, even agree with it. A man’s word is supposed to mean something.
“Also, I’m not supposed to start judging their clients for them. ‘Don’t call me unless you have a case I approve of’—I say that, they won’t call me for anything.”
“You’re gonna lose a lot of friends,” he said.
“I got that,” I said.
“And a lot of business,” he said.
“I have a plan,” I said. “Maybe not much of one, but it’s the best I can think of so far. What I want to try to do is get Goldfarb a good start, get him enough to go on, enough that I can cut the case loose, and we both feel good about it.”
“What do you need?”
“Police reports,” I said.
“I’ll tell you right now, I can’t get you anything on Nazami. That’s wrapped up tighter than shrink wrap.”
“No, the original report, back when they thought it was a suicide.”
“Maybe I could find that.”
“And the university, the campus police must’ve made a report.”
“You figure that’ll get you off the hook?”
“That, plus interview a couple of witnesses, maybe find some alternate suspects he can throw at the jury.”
“I’ll see what I can find,” he said.
“Thank you.”