WHO WOULD JESUS GAS?
A Call to End Nitrogen Gas Executions
5 states (who have some of the largest Christian populations in the nation) have specifically authorized executions by nitrogen hypoxia:
Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma.
Multiple other states with large Christian populations (including Florida) have more general statutes that allow for the use of nitrogen hypoxia.
2 states have actually carried out nitrogen hypoxia executions:
Alabama and Louisiana.
The independent accounts have all been horrific, consistently involving violent heaving, seizing and bulging.
One doesn’t have to be religious to beg the question of these so-called Christians: WHO WOULD JESUS GAS?
We demand that those who follow Jesus actually practice what they preach, and end nitrogen hypoxia executions.
Jesus called his followers to love mercy, do justice, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8).
How could anyone believe in the sanctity of all human life and be for the use of nitrogen gas as a method of execution?
One does not have to be religious at all to beg a fundamental question:
Who would Jesus gas?
On January 25, 2024, Kenneth Smith was put to death by nitrogen hypoxia in Alabama. Eyewitnesses (including our founder, Dr. Jeff Hood, whose testimony is attached*) testified that he gasped, shook, and convulsed for several minutes, suffering visibly and publicly.
This was not justice. This was a public display of cruelty, completely at odds with the love and compassion of the one you claim to follow, Jesus.
Every nitrogen execution since Smith’s has been independently described as being equally horrific. Jesus was executed by the state and provides witness to the horror of being tortured and killed. When we tolerate or support methods of execution that inflict suffering, we stand not with Jesus, but with those who executed Him.
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We cannot call ourselves a just or moral nation while we:
• Experiment with unproven, painful execution methods like nitrogen gas;
• Ignore the voices of medical and ethical experts who warn of its dangers;
• Inflict suffering in the name of justice, while Jesus taught us to “love our enemies” (Matthew 5:44 & Luke 6:27-28) and to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Matthew 7:12 & Luke 6:31)
Jesus taught:
• That redemption is always possible (John 3:16).
• That every person bears the image of God (Genesis 1:27).
• And that mercy triumphs over judgment (James 2:13).
We therefore call on all public officials to:
Halt all executions using nitrogen gas immediately.
Investigate the death of Kenneth Smith and others who have been gassed and their ethical implications.
End the use of experimental execution methods in all forms.
Move our nation toward life-affirming justice, rooted in restoration, not retribution.
Let us not repeat the errors of those who put Jesus to death.
Jesus forgave his executioners.
We call on our leaders (especially those who claim to follow Jesus) to choose mercy and end nitrogen executions now.
Sign below if you believe that mercy should define those who claim to follow Jesus and not gassing people to death.
We will personally deliver your signature and those of countless others at various opportune times to the Governors, Department of Corrections and other Elected Officials who have let these horrors happen.
*The testimony of Dr. Jeff Hood (as it appeared in USA Today), who, as spiritual advisor to Kenny Smith) was in the chamber for the first nitrogen execution:
Does this sound humane?
When nitrogen gas started to flow, Kenny’s face grew more and more intense with every second. Colors started to change. Veins started to flex. Every muscle in his body started to tense.
We had talked for weeks before this moment about what he wanted to do. Never did he say that he would hold his breath. When things began to last way past the seconds that we were told it would, I began to wonder why.
His chest moved up and down with gusto. He was clearly trying to breathe. “Shouldn’t he be unconscious already?” He clearly wasn’t.
He started to look as if his head would pop off. I leaned back. There was nowhere to fall. There only was the nightmare in front of me.
As Kenny’s reactions grew more visceral and violent, the expressions of the guards started to shift dramatically.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. The gurney wasn’t supposed to move. Yet, move it did. Kenny started heaving back and forth. The restraints weren’t enough to keep him still.
Kenny was shaking the entire gurney. I had never seen something so violent. Kenny’s muscles went from tensed up to looking like they were going to combust. Veins spider-webbed in every direction. It looked like an army of ants was running throughout every centimeter of Kenny.
There was nothing in his body that was calm. Everything was going everywhere all at once, over and over.
His face. My God ... his face.
Repeatedly, Kenny’s face jerked toward the front of the mask. I kept wondering if his bulging eyeballs were going to shoot right through.
Saliva, mucus and other substances shot out of his mouth. The concoction of body fluids all started drizzling down the inside of the mask. Back and forth ... back and forth ... back and forth Kenny kept heaving.
We had been told by Alabama officials that the gas would kill Kenny in seconds, but the execution was now going on for minutes. Kenny was very much still conscious. I could see the horror in his eyes. In fact, I’ll never forget it.