Church Series - Criminal Justice at a Crossroads
Are we called as Christians to new hearts and minds about crime and justice? A 6-part series for faith reflection.
Introduction - Why this series now?
I will give them a single heart and I will put a new spirit in them. I will remove the heart of stone from their bodies and give them a heart of flesh instead. (Ezekiel,11:19)
As Christians we are called to act from “hearts of flesh” – founded on openness, compassion and mercy, not from “hearts of stone” – motivated by hurt, anger or fear. Yet what does this mean when it comes to dealing with those who have been afflicted by crime, offenders, and the workings of our criminal justice system?
Crime affects all of us, including our faith communities: locked church doors, security systems and higher insurance rates; parents, relatives, friends who lose a child; the youth caught up in gang brutality; sexual abuse and family violence; the elderly woman who is mugged, the child whose parent is in jail. We hear a lot of ‘crime talk’ and read crime statistics. Too many lives are dominated by fear.
Crime feeds our fears and can limit our hope. As a society and as Christians, we must consider how this has changed us and the way we view victims, offenders and the justice system. Do our attitudes reflect our faith values: care of the afflicted; the dignity of every person; forgiveness and the healing of broken relationships; accountability; the common good? Do our country’s criminal laws and correctional system practices make us safer? Do we let fear and prejudice hardens our hearts to being human with all our neighbours, including our ‘enemies’?
These are challenging questions, especially for those of us who have been touched by the trauma, rage and injustice of crime. Nevertheless, these questions must be asked, and asked again and again. This is particularly the case at this time. The CCJC (Church Council on Justice and Corrections*), a voice of experience and research in these matters, reminds us that we are currently seeing a major shift in Canada's criminal justice priorities.
Our governments, federal and provincial, are about to invest billions of dollars in new prison construction. Do policies that emphasize greater punishment, longer sentences and more incarceration help bring about reconciliation and healing, an experience of justice that can build peaceful communities?
Is the spending of such vast sums of money on more prisons an exercise in stewardship when it takes away tax dollars from other areas essential to the common good?
Click here (pdf 45kb) to read more of Article 1, Introduction: Why this series now? (Français)
A series prepared by the CCJC is intended to assist reflection on the issues and options now before us as a country. This series will address topics such as:
- Victims: why are they so frustrated and how can we be their neighbour? (click to read this article) (Français)
- Offenders: Who is in prison, and what is happening to their families? (contact us for information)
- Youth: What happens to the young who get in trouble with the law? (contact us for information)
- Other options and services: how do they help, how well do they work? (contact us for information)
- How can we and our congregation get involved? (contact us for information)
For here is the sobering reminder: we have been commanded to love not only our friends but also our enemies (Matthew 5). This may feel cruelly intolerable in some circumstances, and we must be gentle with ourselves about that. But we know in faith that God wants to remove that stone and give us hearts of flesh. We can help each other to sit with this promise and wait with an open spirit. We can seek out new ways of looking for justice that offer more opportunities to foster healing and grace.