Restorative Justice Week 2008

Christian Leaflet

"The command "Love your enemies" has grounded the resolve to give up violence as a response to harm. This principle of "enemy-love" guides us to seek restorative ways of responding to harm and loss. Christ Jesus' death is the ultimate example of enemy-love. God's power brought life out of His death and thus reconciliation out of an act of vengeance. We are now compelled to not only refuse to harm our own aggressors, but also be a community that supports one another - victims and offenders - as we move towards healed relationships."

- a Mennonite

As Christians, we have as our living example the life of Jesus. We define our personal worldview in a variety of ways, with different emphases of concern: there are Christians who are evangelical, contemplative, who are concerned with social justice, who are sacramental, etc. The definitions are varied and we often take pride in our comfortable association with our 'kind' of Christianity. But how do we live restoratively within a broader Christian worldview? How are we touched by issues of accountability, peacemaking and forgiveness? How do we foster inclusion and a commitment to the less fortunate?

Perhaps more challenging is how we live out this Christian vision of justice in our wider community. How do we build meaningful relationships with our neighbours so that we can "love them as ourselves"? And how do we demonstrate to the world that we "embrace our enemies", forgive them and restore relationship - rather than take up arms or secure ourselves behind guns and bars?

Here are the reflections of a few Christians who come from a variety of Christian worldviews...May they inspire you to reflect upon these concerns.

Contemplative

Quakers, also called Seekers, believe that there is that of God in each person; it is that which connects us, which reflects the mystery of the Unknowable. As we seek to know one another and God, we become infinitely accountable to the Spirit and to one another. Because of our human imperfection, we are also destined to hurt one another. How we reconcile within imperfect relationships becomes a sacred act. We are called to love and understand one another, especially when it is most difficult, with Divine assistance to be curious, graceful and forgiving.

- a Quaker

Social Justice

Restorative justice is rooted in the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus. It responds to interpersonal brokenness and community crime, grounded in the belief that no person is disposable. Love for God expressed in love for neighbours shapes restorative justice. It leads to practices that anticipate glimpses of Biblical Shalom. This Shalom is experienced in restored harmony between people and God through covenant renewal in Jesus Christ.

- a member of the Christian Reformed Church

Virtue or holiness

William Booth, the Salvation Army's founder, based correctional ministry on helping prisoners, bringing them to knowledge of God's salvation. Today, The Salvation Army continues to believe that a restorative approach to justice - which seeks to hold the wrongdoer accountable while working to bring healing and wholeness to the victim, the offender and the community - is a more productive approach for all parties.

- a Member of the Salvation Army

Sacramental

People are already saved and restored by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, for He has risen from the dead and now sits at the right hand of the Father in order to send us the fullness of the Holy Spirit. It is up to us to apply this to our relationships, so that the FULLNESS of Christ will be found in the whole BODY. Christ welcomes, heals and forgives in order to give dignity to the excluded. He wants us to be one as He and The Father are One. This is the essential condition for restoring balance in the universe: that every person lives from the Word of God and puts it into practice. God gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

- a francophone Catholic

Evangelical

The first book of the New Testament, the Gospel according to Matthew, sets the tone of Jesus' ministry of reconciliation, encouraging us to seek peace, reconciliation, & forgiveness, AT ALL COSTS, for any wrongdoing by us or against us. In Matthew's sermon on the Beatitudes (5: 3-48), Jesus teaches us clearly about peace, reconciliation, retaliation and love for our enemies.

- an Evangelical Protestant

This leaflet was prepared for the Correctional Service of Canada by the Church Council on Justice and Corrections in collaboration with representatives from supporting denominations.

For further information www.ccjc.ca/restorative_justice.html & www.csc-scc.gc.ca.