(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2000) Hale, Frederick
The best-selling book and internationally popular film Dead Man Walking address
squarely the issue of capital punishment which has been extensively debated
throughout much of the world and challenged the ethical thinking of Christian and
non-Christian moralists. Although chis question is created in Dead Man Walking in
an explicitly Roman Catholic context in the United States of America, the ethical
and spiritual dimensions of its treatment on the screen transcend geographical and
denominational borders and are particularly relevant co South Africa, where
escalating violence in recent years has engendered a callousness and spirit of
vengefulness in many quarters and where public support for the death penalty is
strong.