On Oct. 15, President Trump canceled a proposed livestream of the execution by firing squad of Nidal Malik Hasan, the former Army officer convicted of the mass shooting at Fort Hood in 2009, following a week of intense criticism of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s announcement that the execution (still scheduled for Dec. 3) would be made publicly viewable. America’s editor in chief, Sam Sawyer, S.J., had responded to Mr. Hegseth’s idea in a column titled “The Death of the American Conscience Will Be Livestreamed.” Father Sawyer warned that “putting [the execution] on public display threatens to reshape our conscience to celebrate the state’s capacity for violence” and argued that the mere consideration of a public execution is cause for condemnation. Here is what our readers had to say in response.

Our country is losing its soul. We are descending into a darkness I hope we can recover from. Jesus himself was a victim of a public execution. At this moment in time, I am ashamed of this country and what we are becoming.
Cathleen Prout

The complete and utter moral depravity of this president is beyond my comprehension. This country can no longer say, “This is not who we are.” We have lost the moral high ground, and it truly pains me to say that the people of this country have proven time and again, by their continued support of the cruelty and depravity that has been on display, this is exactly who we are.
David Bowditch

To execute a man by firing squad and livestream it for the world to watch is beyond the pale. Unconscionable. Not America. Absolutely demonstrates a culture of death.
Mark J. Williams

Objectification is the root of all evil. Just as Mr. Hasan objectified his victims for a political purpose, so Mr. Hegseth is doing. It’s a slippery slope toward becoming the thing you despise. In this we should all remain vigilant.
D-R Martin

This is a descent into raw barbarism like that depicted in Lord of the Flies. Lord, help us; they do not know what they are doing.
Peter Arnez

Justice holds the guilty accountable; vengeance turns their suffering into a spectacle. Justice protects society; vengeance feeds the appetite to punish.
Michael Thaibinh

I hope and pray that the despicable nature of this proposed action will be shouted from every pulpit of every house of worship throughout the land.
Tim Rawbinger

Livestreaming an execution is so disgusting that it is hard to find words for it. The people proposing and carrying out this depraved act also defy civilized descriptions.
Lisa Weber

Bloodthirsty barbarism.
Mary Bunker

Just another despicable act by an administration that pushed the Constitution aside in favor of self-gratification, with everything from collaboration with our enemies for profit to trampling human rights.
Samuel Esposito

Thanks to Sam Sawyer for this article. We watch in horror from here in Australia at the utter depravity, corruption and cruelty of the Trump administration. This violence is not of Christ.
Fiona Dyball

What Mr. Hasan did was undeniably evil, but he should have the rest of his God-given life to beg forgiveness and repent. This planned execution is pure evil. It has nothing to do with Christ or his teachings, and everything to do with revenge and bloodlust. It is sick and the antithesis of Christianity. It’s more akin to The Hunger Games, where people die to entertain others.
Gwen Murtha-Eudy

Jesus weeps.
Jane O’Donnell