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Try the Nitrogen Mask On: A Moral Test for Governor Sanders

Try the Nitrogen Mask On: A Moral Test for Governor Sanders

Last updated on: August 25, 2025 at 10:58 am by Jeff Hood

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Try the Nitrogen Mask On: A Moral Test for Governor Sanders 2025-08-25T10:58:35-06:00 Jeff Hood

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Sarah’s Gas Mask / Personal Image

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, before you authorize a nitrogen execution, try the mask on.

Not for the cameras. Not as a stunt. Of course, without any nitrogen flowing. Just you, alone with your thoughts. Feel the mask bite into your cheeks. Let the mask press against your face. Sit. Breathe. Wait. Ask yourself…what hell am I about to unleash on Arkansas?

Nitrogen Execution Is Not Humane

Your advisors may call it “humane.” Corrections officials may call it “efficient.” But when the air that sustains life is stripped away, the body convulses, the chest heaves, and the soul is dragged through terror before silence comes. Death does not arrive politely. It comes in panic, in the frantic urge to draw breath, in the primal fear of drowning in a room full of oxygen you cannot reach.

In January of 2024, I served as Kenneth Smith’s spiritual advisor during the first nitrogen execution…and I witnessed it all myself.

You cannot truly know what you are considering unless you have felt it for yourself. So before you authorize an execution by nitrogen, put on the mask. Tighten the straps. Feel it. Then decide if you can still call it humane.

Moral Responsibility and Scripture

Scripture says, “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31). This isn’t a suggestion for convenience. If you believe nitrogen suffocation is humane, prove it—not with words, but with your own body. Until you do, every comment or order you make will be an act of hypocrisy.

You might say, “But the condemned deserve it.” But Jesus said, “As you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). Every person strapped to the gurney, every chest straining for air, every terrified gaze…is Christ. You are not just suffocating a criminal…you are suffocating Christ himself.

If you would not dare suffocate Christ, don’t do it to anybody else. This is the message of Jesus.

Why Closure Cannot Come From Killing

Governor, I’m not asking you to abolish the death penalty today, though I would certainly welcome it. I’m asking you to take one step so simple, so obvious, that it should shame you not to attempt it. Put on the mask. Feel what it does. Then speak honestly about your experience.

If you recoil at the thought, you already know the truth: the mask is cruelty. The reassurances of your advisors are lies. What you are considering is not justice…it’s torture wrapped in bureaucratic words.

Arkansas is about to cross a horrific threshold in history. Your choice will be remembered. Long after headlines fade, long after political winds shift, generations will ask: “How could they have thought this was acceptable?” And your name will be at the top of all accounts.

Perhaps you believe you are upholding order. Perhaps you think victims’ families will find closure. True closure never comes from watching another human being die. It comes from mercy, from healing, from forgiveness that no courtroom can manufacture. Killing will not restore what was lost…it only spreads more death into a world already suffocating in it.

Imagine Your Loved One Strapped to that Gurney

Imagine the mask waiting on its hook. The straps. The witnesses in silent horror. The gas begins to flow. Now imagine it’s someone you love. Could you watch them convulse, chest straining for air, eyes filling with terror, and call it justice?

If you cannot bear it for someone for yourself or someone you love, then you cannot demand it of another. That is what Christ commanded.

The Choice Before Arkansas

Governor, if you will not wear the mask, be honest enough to admit what you are doing is wrong. Say plainly that you are ordering others to endure what you would never accept yourself. Confess that you are willing to suffocate Christ because you lack the courage to choose mercy over vengeance.

We do not have to walk this path. You do not have to suffocate any Arkansans. There is still another way…life. Choose the path of Jesus before we cross a line that can never be uncrossed.

Because if you won’t wear the mask, you already know what it means…no one should.

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About The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood

The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood is a theologian, writer, and activist who has spent years ministering to people on death row. As a spiritual advisor and witness to executions, he speaks out against state violence and calls for a society rooted in justice, mercy, and the sacredness of life. You can read more about the author here.

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