If Christ had died in Texas ...

I said I wouldn't blog today, but in a spare moment this random thought occurred to me: On Easter Sunday, perhaps it's worth a moment's reflection to consider that Jesus Christ was executed as a criminal by the Roman government - an innocent whose death believers hold paid for the sins of all. As more and more innocents on death row have been cleared of charges, one wonders whether any of the 362 put to death in Texas since 1982 also paid for the sins of others?

If Christ had died in Texas, he'd have been executed in the "Walls Unit" in Huntsville - the headquarters of the state's prison system. The Huntsville Item today published a slightly odd nostalgia piece on "Old Sparky," Texas' electric chair used from 1924 until the mid- '60s. Use of the electric chair was one of the practices later deemed cruel and unusual under the 8th Amendment to the US Constitution; Texas replaced Old Sparky with doctor-assisted lethal injections, which have recently become subject of similar criticisms.

That means if Christ had died in Texas, the gurney, not the cross, would be the predominant religious symbol for his victory over the grave. Wouldn't that be an odd thing to wear around your neck on a little gold chain?