Life and Death Matters: Seeking the Truth About Capital Punishment

by Robert L. Baldwin

Overview

Dr. Robert Baldwin would be the first to tell you that he used to be an average white Southern male; a family man with conservative ideals and a growing medical practice, he was living out his life without too much introspection. In 1997, however, Baldwin was diagnosed with the auto-immune disease, myasthenia gravis.

In his compelling new memoir Life and Death Matters, Baldwin discusses his health scare and his subsequent search for truth in both the Christian church and society at large. Baldwin goes on to tackle one of the most precarious moral issues of our time—the death penalty—with statistical fact and thoughtful religious sympathy. While volunteering as a prison minister, Baldwin immerses himself in this issue, proving himself to be a most thoughtful individual with an eye for social injustice and an ear for those in most need of counsel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781588382344
Publisher:	University of Georgia Press
Publication date:	06/01/2008
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

ROBERT L. BALDWIN, MD, MA, a twenty-five year Birmingham, Alabama physician/surgeon in otology (a specialty treating ear and related nerve disorders), gave up his practice due to illness. He then received his master’s degree at Birmingham Southern College and became interested in capital punishment. Baldwin now devotes his time to public service work in prison ministry, as a certified Lay Speaker at Canterbury United Methodist Church, as president of the Alabama Ear Institute dedicated to children born deaf and hard of hearing, and a tireless advocate for reform of our death penalty laws. Life and Death Matters is his first book.

ROBERT L. BALDWIN, MD, MA, a twenty-five year Birmingham, Alabama physician/surgeon in otology (a specialty treating ear and related nerve disorders), gave up his practice due to illness. He then received his master’s degree at Birmingham Southern College and became interested in capital punishment. Baldwin now devotes his time to public service work in prison ministry, as a certified Lay Speaker at Canterbury United Methodist Church, as president of the Alabama Ear Institute dedicated to children born deaf and hard of hearing, and a tireless advocate for reform of our death penalty laws. Life and Death Matters is his first book.

Editorial Reviews

Here is a story of one man’s journey that is sure to strike a chord in many of our hearts and minds. Robbie Baldwin, in telling the story of his journey related to capital punishment, gives us a modern-day Pilgrim’s Progress. In Robbie’s story, I see the hand of a gracious God who leads a person into a new, gracious reality. I’ve read lots of books on the subject of the death penalty, but I can’t think of any that are written with such passion, intelligence, and grace-filled commitment. This is a quite wonderful testimony of one man’s walk with God toward more abundant life.

Will Willimon

Baldwin’s book is a timely and valuable examination of the death penalty and the issues it generates. At a moment when there is a tremendous need for reform of sentencing and capital punishment, this book has much to offer.

Bryan Stevenson

This book is the culmination of Baldwin's personal odyssey into a rigorous, faith-based public policy analysis of capital punishment. He not only provides the reader with a fact-based, faith guided critique of capital punishment but does so in a personal and engaging manner which enhances the strength of the policy position which he passionately advocates. Every reader, regardless of faith perspective or present policy position, will gain from reading this important contribution to our national debate.

Howell Heflin

This book is the culmination of Baldwin's personal odyssey into a rigorous, faith-based public policy analysis of capital punishment. He not only provides the reader with a fact-based, faith guided critique of capital punishment but does so in a personal and engaging manner which enhances the strength of the policy position which he passionately advocates. Every reader, regardless of faith perspective or present policy position, will gain from reading this important contribution to our national debate. — Howell Heflin, professor of political science, Birmingham-Southern College

Baldwin’s book is a timely and valuable examination of the death penalty and the issues it generates. At a moment when there is a tremendous need for reform of sentencing and capital punishment, this book has much to offer. — Bryan Stevenson, executive director, Equal Justice Initiative

Here is a story of one man’s journey that is sure to strike a chord in many of our hearts and minds. Robbie Baldwin, in telling the story of his journey related to capital punishment, gives us a modern-day Pilgrim’s Progress. In Robbie’s story, I see the hand of a gracious God who leads a person into a new, gracious reality. I’ve read lots of books on the subject of the death penalty, but I can’t think of any that are written with such passion, intelligence, and grace-filled commitment. This is a quite wonderful testimony of one man’s walk with God toward more abundant life. — Will Willimon, bishop, North Alabama Methodist Conference

From the Publisher

Baldwin’s book is a timely and valuable examination of the death penalty and the issues it generates. At a moment when there is a tremendous need for reform of sentencing and capital punishment, this book has much to offer. — Bryan Stevenson, executive director, Equal Justice Initiative

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