They wage a ceaseless clamorous war against "mixing church and state," but when it fits their agenda, they have no compunctions at all about blending religion and gov't. (think Martin Luther King, for the starkest example). One of their all-time successful propaganda films in this regard is "Dead Man Walking." Jesus has words put into His mouth that He never spoke, Southerners with English problems are painted as Bible boobs, and the double murderer convict is even at one point blasphemously presented as a Christ figure: when they've strapped him to the death table, just before he's lowered.
It is not the function of the church to dole out capital punishment. But it also most certainly is not the function of the state to dole out compassion & forgiveness. Justice is the state's proper role. Justice alone.
