Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" is a biblical quote that references the diminishing of the soul and a spiritual perishing as a result of sinful behavior on Earth; however, history tells us that scriptures like this are often misinterpreted. Historically, individuals were viciously tortured or murdered for crimes which were considered to be sin such as stealing or having sex outside of marriage, so in some ways, through the generational perpetuation of Western European culture, the meaning of this scripture has shifted to denote that those who sin deserve death.
In the current century, the narrative has changed as sin takes on a new name among the common people, crime. Most of the American book on statutes and laws was created with at least a biblical premise creating a moral and legal compass that is based on sinful activity. Murder, theft, adultery, lying under oath all have practical uses in our current society but have roots that run back to the Bible and the Christian religion. Carrying on Romans 6:23, one could say, that in the society that we live in today the wages of crime are death especially when it comes to police killings and criminalization of people in America.
Consider the case of Mike Brown, a young man shot in the street in Ferguson, Missouri. Many people sought to justify officer Darren Wilson's killing of Mike Brown based on the premise, true or not, that Mike Brown stole from a gas station before his encounter with the officer that took his life. Sandra Bland was pulled over for a missing taillight and was subsequently taken to prison by the officer after having an argument with the officer. She later died in jail. Many people tried to make the case that if Sandra had followed the law she would still be alive today. Eric Garner was choked to death by plainclothes officers in New York after selling loose cigarettes. People tried again to insinuate that if Garner hadn't sold cigarettes and hadn't tried to resist arrest from the officers he would still be alive. These people were accused of committing crimes and these accusations were an attempt to justify the taking of their lives. The wages of sins (crimes) is death.
But this is a powerful misconception both in the terms of general morality, religious interpretation, and in consideration of American civil structure. American society is built on a structure of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness a concept that many people believe is taken away from individuals who commit crimes; in a sense, the inalienable rights that are promised to citizens of the United States are not given to criminals because they are no longer citizens. Criminals cease to be people, and because they cease to be people, these people can be mistreated, assaulted, or even killed. Even worse, because criminals lose their inalienable rights when they are convicted, the people of the United States have begun to develop a conception that people who even are thought to have committed a crime should have their inalienable rights taken; they should no longer be people.
