In the Bible, justice is about much more than fairness or catching and punishing “bad guys.” Biblical, or restorative, justice centers focus on restoring everyone affected by wrongdoing—including the offender, the victim, and the community around them. It’s based on shalom, a Hebrew term encompassing peace, wholeness, righteousness, and harmony.
A version of this article originally appeared on the Justice Fellowship website.
“I agree with you; I want to do it; now make me do it.”
So President Franklin Roosevelt is believed to have replied when labor leaders asked him for executive action.
The following post originally appeared as a BreakPoint radio commentary.
For a long time, Prison Fellowship has believed that the United States incarcerates far too many people at far too high a cost. What’s more, that cost does not take into account an important set of victims: the innocent children of offenders.
It is no secret that existing state and federal prison systems are too often models of inefficiency and ineffectiveness. Outdated facilities have been unable to keep up with growing prison populations. And despite the astronomical costs of housing prison inmates (a study of New York state facilities estimates that annual cost per prisoner is a staggering $167,731 – enough to send that same prisoner to an Ivy League school with full room and board for four years), recidivism rates remain around 40 percent.
Where there is no vision, the people perish.”– Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)
Vision is destiny. Our feet will generally take us where our eyes are focused, so if we want to get anywhere, we had better have a clear picture of where we’re headed.
The following commentary originally appeared on the BreakPoint website.
For many Americans, a single feeling shapes the way we see criminal justice: fear. When we think about our businesses, our communities and our loved ones, and the threat which crime poses to them, we react out of fear toward the perpetrators.