Critics have found it easy to point out that some versions of the “punishment” view of Jesus’s death seem to be entrenched in the same communities, in parts of America, where a harsh penal regime, including the death penalty, is not only the norm, but is held up as a fine example of how to deal with crime and social unrest. In some of the same communities one might find the belief that when things go wrong in the wider world, the best thing to do is to use more violence there as well, dropping bombs on faraway towns and villages or sending drones to take out designated targets.
