{"id":1710,"date":"2011-05-24T13:05:48","date_gmt":"2011-05-24T19:05:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raincitypastor.wordpress.com\/?p=1290"},"modified":"2011-05-24T13:05:48","modified_gmt":"2011-05-24T19:05:48","slug":"california-meet-rwanda-and-learn-about-justice-reconciliation-prisons-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/05\/24\/california-meet-rwanda-and-learn-about-justice-reconciliation-prisons-2\/","title":{"rendered":"California, meet Rwanda – and learn about justice, reconciliation, and prisons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In a culture characterized by high unemployment, isolation, mind-numbing addictive drugs, and ready access to weapons, it\u2019s no surprise that prison populations are swelling. \u00a0But our response to the inevitable overcrowding is, just possibly, a moment when we can take pause and learn from others. \u00a0The lessons we\u2019ll discover are important, not just for prisoners and governments, but for ever person who\u2019s ever wronged another and looked for a way forward in the relationship. \u00a0Interested in learning? \u00a0Read on\u2026<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court ruling this week in California will require the release or transfer of 33,000 prison convicts<\/a> in order to reduce overcrowding deemed to be cruel and inhumane. \u00a0The noise about state\u2019s rights, risk to populations at large, and how we got into this mess, is both worth listening to, and responding to, but that\u2019s not the point of this conversation. \u00a0This<\/em> conversation is intended to remind California that Rwanda\u2019s been down this road \u2013 with some measure of success. \u00a0They\u2019d do well to at least take a look.<\/p>\n

In the wake of the horrendous tribal genocides of 1994, the prison populations were swollen with perpetrators of violent rape and murder. \u00a0In 1993 Rwanda president Paul Kagame issued a decree to release elderly, sick, and lower-level killers and looters from the 1994 genocide who had confessed their crimes. \u00a0The whole story is to be found here,<\/a> but it\u2019s the phrase \u201cconfessed their crimes\u201d<\/em><\/strong> that opens a window into a system from which we might stand to learn something.<\/p>\n

The court system of our country is primarily rooted in concepts of retributive justice<\/a>, which means we\u2019re committed to making perpetrators suffer for their crimes, usually by \u201cdoing time.\u201d\u00a0 In our system, the restoration of neither the victim nor the perpetrator is seen is a priority. \u00a0Finding the truth, finding the criminal, and making him\/her \u201cpay\u201d is the end of it all.<\/p>\n

This stands in sharp distinction to many other cultures in our world, whose views of justice more closely resemble the \u201cshalom\u201d of the Hebrews. \u00a0As Catherine Larson writes, \u201cTrue shalom meant that punishing the offender had an ultimate goal: restoration of peace for the victim, restoration of peace in the community, and finally, restoration of peace for the offender.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rwandan view of justice captures this spirit, and where this spirit prevails we see a commitment not to retribution, but to restoration. \u00a0Again, Catherine writes, \u201cRestorative justice is a process in which victim, offender, and community are involved in dialogue, mutual agreement, empath, and taking of responsibility.\u201d \u00a0The Rwandan version of this requires confession on the part of the perpetrator and, upon release, asks the perpetrator to confess their crimes to victims, face to face, with a mediator, and work towards some form of restitution.<\/p>\n

This model presents a challenge not only to the criminal, but to the victim, for the \u201clock \u2019em up and throw away the key\u201d mindset can\u2019t exist if we\u2019re committed to restorative justice. \u00a0Instead, the victim is called upon to commit to the process of restoration as well, and this, of course, is rooted in the conviction that the victim will never fully be freed until they can forgive their offenders, whether face to face, or in the heart.<\/p>\n

And now, it seems to me, we get to the crux of the matter. \u00a0To the extent that forgiveness and restorative justice has flourished in Rwanda, it\u2019s done so because of Christ. \u00a0This isn\u2019t a syrupy, romantic notion. \u00a0Restorative justice has been, to those with honest eyes, slow and painful, halting and tear-stained. \u00a0And yet, one can see it everywhere: \u00a0Joy on the face of a victim who has now become a pastor and broker of forgiveness. \u00a0Hard conversations, painful memories, face to face work towards restoration; these are the ways of many Rwandans \u2013 these are the ways of Christ, who taught us to pray: \u00a0\u201cForgive us our sins, in the same manner in which we forgive those who sin against us.\u201d<\/p>\n

When one takes the gospel out of the equation though, one wonders: \u00a0Forgiveness, restoration, and confession live in a sort of symbiotic ecology, a system built on the preemptive, sacrificial, forgiving love of Christ<\/em><\/strong>. \u00a0Take that stuff away and what have you got? \u00a0Retributive justice\u2026 nothing more.<\/p>\n

This critiques governments and systems, surely. \u00a0But it challenges us personally too, or should. \u00a0Is there a broken relationship in your life? \u00a0Jesus tells us that confession<\/a> and working to restore are important \u00a0\u2013 more important, even, than the rituals of worship<\/a>. \u00a0It\u2019s not easy\u2026but worth the trouble.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen people literally bent over in pain, wracked by bitterness because of petty lawsuits, in one case having to do with less than $1,000. \u00a0I\u2019ve seen worshippers dancing in Rwanda, in one case with intermingled tears of joy and loss, as they face square on, their callings to confess, forgive, restore. \u00a0I know which I prefer.<\/p>\n

Reconciliation is central to shalom, and shalom is central to human flourishing. \u00a0All of it, though, needs Christ.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a culture characterized by high unemployment, isolation, mind-numbing addictive drugs, and ready access to weapons, it\u2019s no surprise that prison populations are swelling. \u00a0But our response to the inevitable overcrowding is, just possibly, a moment when we can take pause and learn from others. \u00a0The lessons we\u2019ll discover are important, not just for prisoners […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,13,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-justice","category-life","category-reviews"],"yoast_head":"\nCalifornia, meet Rwanda - and learn about justice, reconciliation, and prisons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a culture characterized by high unemployment, isolation, mind-numbing addictive drugs, and ready access to weapons, it's no surprise that prison\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/05\/24\/california-meet-rwanda-and-learn-about-justice-reconciliation-prisons-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"California, meet Rwanda - 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