Tookie, Tookie, Goodbye

"Well, any human being will cast about in a moment of stress" -- Ulysses Everett McGill (from "O Brother, Where Art Thou?")

It is now 12:05 AM EST. In a little less than three hours, Stanley (Tookie) Williams will be dead. He will be executed by lethal injection, according to the laws of the State of California.

He had his last appeals, to the appellate court, the Supreme Court, and to the Governor of California, Arnold Swartzenegger.

He has been turned down.

Twenty five years ago, Stanley Williams took the lives of four people, all of them strangers to him, for a little bit of money. He gave them no final meal, no final words, no final appeals. And they didn't die quietly, painlessly, in their sleep, as he will. They died painfully and slowly, while, in at least one instance, Stanley laughed at the sound of the death rattle.

And yet, there are those who say that the execution of Stanley Williams is unfair and unnecessarily cruel. They say he has reformed, that he no longer represents a threat to others. They say he has devoted the last few years to attempting to persuade young people to stay away from street gangs, and the drugs and violence associated with them. He has written children's books to that end. It has been reported that he has been converted to God.

But has he? Only God knows for sure.

But let's look at the evidence.

First of all, he refuses to admit guilt, in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. He refuses to show remorse. He shows no sympathy for the victims and their families. Even if he wasn't guilty, it seems to me that he would at least feel sorry for the victims of this horrific crime. But he doesn't.

He is a founder of the infamous street gang known as the Crips. A gang that has grown to national prominence, with thousands of murders to their "credit" over the past 25 years or so. He has ordered gang hits from his prison cell. He has been in many fights in prison over the last 25 years. He has assaulted the prison guards.

Sunday afternoon, I caught part of an interview with Williams on the radio. He was asked if he was afraid of death. He said he doesn't fear death because he doesn't fear the unknown.

He must be the only person on Earth that doesn't fear the unknown. He said no one has ever been resurrected from the dead and come back to explain what is in store for those who are facing death. I find this to be a strange statement coming from someone who has been converted. After all, Jesus was resurrected and came back to warn us of what is in store for us after death. If Stanley has been converted, wouldn't he know that?

I don't fear death because I know what will happen to me after death.

I think anybody would do anything they can think of to avoid death. Including reforming himself, at least until he can get out of the situation. It is human nature. I don't think Stanley Williams is any different in that regard.

In an interview, Mike Farrell, the actor famous for his role on TV's MASH, said the government doesn't have the right to take the life of Stanley Williams. He said it would cut his life short before he could make amends with the Lord.

Personally, I see this as an opportunity few of us get. To actually know in advance the exact time and day of your death. No one can ask for a better opportunity to get your affairs in order and to repent and ask forgiveness. If he refuses to do so, he has no one to blame but himself.

Seems to me, Stanley Williams, in that, is a very lucky man. For his sake, let's hope he will avail himself of the opportunity.