Death-Penalty Issue Stirs Divergent Religious Views McVeigh Case Inspires Debate on Moral Aspects of Society's Ultimate Sanction

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When Lutheran Bishop William Lazareth preaches on the death penalty, he avoids moralizing about compassion. The deeper issue, he feels, is the effect executions have on society. "They cheapen our sense of life, our sense of what is sacred," says Bishop Lazareth of Princeton, N.J.

Assembly of God minister Dennis Pigman, for six years a chaplin on death row in Arkansas, holds a different view. He believes the death penalty is justified in "extreme" cases, but too often is carried out for political reasons.

The two men symbolize some of the divergent and complex views that permeate the religious community as capital punishment reemerges as a major issue in the United …