Death Penalty and Imago Dei

In a recent post on the UN's call for a global moratorium on the death penalty, I stated my belief that "the death penalty is inconsistent with Catholic Social Thought.  The dignity of the human person, our creation in God's image, demand that we seek alternatives to the death penalty."  MOJ-friend Michael Schutt sent the following in response:

"I'm wondering two things.  At bottom, my issue is with the imago Dei being the foundation of opposition to the death penalty, when Scripture teaches that human dignity that comes from being created in God's image is the foundation for the death penalty (Genesis 9:6: "Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person's blood be shed; for in his own image God made humankind.")   So . . . I have two questions, if you can help:

"Is there any interaction with this passage, that you are aware of,in the current thinking in RC circles?  Rick Garnett's excellent piece from a few years' back (which takes the same position that you do)does not mention it.  It's not as if this is an obscure part of the Mosaic law-- it's in the Noahic covenant, not Mosaic, and one that theologians see as generally applicable today based on God's promise never to flood the world again.

"In Evangelium Vitae, JP II does start with the principle of imago Dei, but later expressly says that it is only absolute as to "innocent persons" (para. 57).  He has to go further than the imago Dei in order to build a case against the death penalty.  It seems his clearestnprinciples are based on state "protection" of society and rooting criminal justice theory in rehabilitation and behavior modification (para. 56) (rather than, say retribution).  In fact, he concludes his discussion by quoting the Catechism:">"If bloodless means are sufficient to defend human lives against an aggressor and to protect public order and the safety of persons, public authority must limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person".  That "IF" says it all:  the death penalty would be permissible if necessary to defend society; therefore it is not absolutely--only conditionally-- rooted in the imago Dei, but is instead rooted in a particular theory of the state and of criminal justice.

"It seems to me if the imago Dei compels the death penalty, it cannot be the reason to abolish it.  I don't think that this is the teaching of the Church, but it seems to be what many Roman Catholics are saying.  Since I'm jumping on a one-sentence post of yours, I understand that I may be completely missing the boat.  But I think this has implications for a host of other things that RCs and evangelicals talk past each other about. >Any thoughts?"

I offered the following initial quick reply to Mike's queries:

First, although I haven't seen discussion of this passage in the Catholic discussion about the death penalty, I obviously don't believe that our creation in God's image compels the death penalty.  The Incarnation changes radically how we read Old Testament laws. (Think of Matthew 5:38 - "you have heard it said an eye for an eye, but I say...") and I think our understanding of what it means to be created in the image of God has to be informed by Christ's becoming human.  A different way ot saying that is that the dignity of the human person "flows directly from the doctrine of the Incarnation itself" in the words of Michael Himes.

Second,  I don't read the Pope's statements re the death peanlty as merely suggesting a "particular theory of the state and of criminal justice."  My own view has been that some of hte Church's statements about the death penalty reflect the fact it feels the need to couch things in a way that don't suggest its prior position was in error.  Evangelium Vitae accepts there is no situaiton in the modern world that would justify the death penalty although it doesn't quite come out and say so. But what it does say does make clear that not having the death penalty is more in conformity with the dignity of the human person and common good than having the death penalty.

Any thoughts from others?