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August 13
Florence Nightingale, Leonora Barry, Felix Adler, and the last executions in the UK
David Barnhart
August 13, 2025
Lyndhurst, England, 2011.
On this day in 1964, the last two executions were carried out in the United Kingdom. The death penalty has been banned there ever since. We know that the death penalty is no deterrent to violent crime and often kills innocent people, yet our fascist regime has accelerated federal executions since it came to power.
Today marks the death of Florence Nightingale in 1910. She pioneered the modern profession of nursing during the Crimean War. She was also notable for using statistics to improve healthcare.
Today marks the birthday of Leonora Barry, in 1849, who was an advocate for labor rights, especially for working women. Like Florence Nightingale, one of her main tools was statistics.
Today also marks the birthday of Felix Adler, in 1851, who became an outspoken spiritual humanist and founded the “Ethical Culture” movement.
Reflection:
A dying prostitute who was afraid of going to hell told Florence Nightingale, “"Pray to God that you may never be in the despair I am in at this time.” Nightingale replied, "Oh, my girl, are you not now more merciful than the God you think you are going to? Yet the real God is far more merciful than any human creature ever was or can ever imagine."
Felix Adler wrote:
“The divine in man is our sole ground for believing that there is anything divine in the universe outside of man. Man is the revealer of the divine.
At bottom, the world is to be interpreted in terms of joy, but of a joy that includes all the pain, includes it and transforms it and transcends it.
The Light of the World is a light that is saturated with the darkness which it has overcome and transfigured.”
Regarding the death penalty, the Social Principles of the United Methodist Church (which most United Methodists don’t know exist) says:
Our commitment to the inherent dignity and worth of every person and our historic stance as United Methodists compels us to oppose capital punishment and the imposition of the death penalty.
…Tragically, the death penalty compounds the loss of human life with the deliberate taking of another life. Additionally, the administration of the death penalty disproportionately impacts people who live in poverty, those who are uneducated, people who live in marginalized racial and ethnic communities, and people with mental impairments. Further, modern advances in technology have shown that a significant number of people are wrongly convicted of the crimes with which they have been charged. Such injustices call us to question the fair application of the death penalty and its congruence with the fundamental right to fair and equal treatment under the law.
We, therefore, call for the abolition of the death penalty and urge individuals and congregations to educate themselves about the historical stance of The United Methodist Church and its predecessors, especially The Evangelical United Brethren Church. Further, we ask pastors and congregations to commit themselves to minister to those who have lost loved ones to violent crimes and to support families without judgment as they navigate the competing demands of justice, compassion and healing.
Prayer: God of Life and Death, we are the ones who inflict hell on each other. Help us instead to be bearers of good news of your life-giving reign. Amen.