Dead Man Walking Religion Quotes

Prejean is saying she's sorry for the priest because he doesn't see trust and love as part of his religion. She probably is sorry for him, but that's surely a burn. She's saying he's committed to hollow rituals, not love. Also, she calls him "old." Nuns, it turns out, can dish it like the best of them—even if they have to disguise their barbs.

Prejean's talking specifically about Warden Blackburn, who's a believing Christian but doesn't feel there's any contradiction between his faith and executing someone. He's got a duty to the state, and his wife is a good Christian who thinks it's all okay—so, he figures, what's the problem? Blackburn's position is easy to sneer at… but then, most people at some point or other do ethically dubious things in their jobs and don't feel all that bad about it. People accommodate all sorts of things; they're an accommodating bunch. But when life and death are stake? That really ups the responsibility ante, right?

Again, Christianity is based on worshipping someone who was executed by the state, so you'd think that Christians would be reluctant to execute folks. But as Prejean says, that hasn't really been true historically. In fact, Christians are more likely to support the death penalty than the population as a whole, even though very few people believe Jesus would support the death penalty. Prejean doesn't go into this much, but you can see she finds it a bit frustrating.