Restorative Justice

Not long ago, I spent an afternoon smoking a cigarette with a convicted drug dealer and thief. Well, I wasn’t smoking the cigarette, but I was there nonetheless, enjoying the second-hand smoke and conversation. Well, enjoying the conversation and avoiding the second-hand smoke.

Our choice of setting? The no-smoking area of a hospital courtyard, large ‘Fresh Air Area’ signs over our heads.

Editor's introduction: Omar Khadr, an Afghan-Canadian, is accused of having thrown the grenade that killed American Sergeant Christopher Speer in 2002 when Khadr was 15. He was incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay for ten years. The Government of Canada’s interrogation of Omar at Guantanamo "offend[ed] the most basic Canadian standards [of] the treatment of detained youth suspects," according to a 2010 ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Welcome to our Advocacy Works series! Want to see other posts? Sign up here to receive them in your inbox. 

Have you ever thought of advocacy as an act of worship or a step of discipleship? I hadn't. 

So often I feel that I’m not the advocate or the disciple that I wish I was. Although I’ve had numerous classes and spiritual experiences that had potential to lead to flourishing in both realms, the disconnect between a dysfunctional reality and Shalom weighs heavily. What is a person to do?

Every few days, I take a small metal pail full of vegetable scraps and fruit peels to a black compost bin in my backyard. Thermometers in Edmonton dip well below zero Celsius in January, so it requires some resolve to take grab the bin’s soon-to-be-freezing metal handle and take food scraps to the compost bin rather than dumping them in my waste basket. When the temperatures get so cold that my beard freezes, I find myself asking: Does it really matter how I throw this stuff away?

A few weeks ago, we started a journey exploring what I believe is God’s good design for human flourishing; “one diverse and unified family.” We explored our role as human beings in rebelling against that good design. We also explored a few pages of American history to see how racism is America’s “original sin.” In my previous two posts, I have invited the church to explore leading in confessing racism, lamenting racism, and repenting from racism.

Our Lenten fast calls us to fight for freedom and “undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free” and to assist those coming out of bondage into freedom and all the new challenges that come with it.

“No act of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others. So, no matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard floor and eat ashes and sigh continually, if you do no good to others, you do nothing great.”   - John Chrysostom     

I have three children. I work full-time. I volunteer in several ministries at my church. I am busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. But I also know that as a Christian, I am called to make mercy and justice, advocacy and generosity, a way of life.

What is “restorative justice”? Those words are becoming more common in our conversations about criminal justice and even everyday interpersonal conflicts. Perhaps you’ve even heard of restorative justice as an approach to use when dealing with church conflict. The Office of Social Justice now even has a monthly newsletter called “Catching Stones” that points people towards resources to learn more about and practice restorative justice. 

What this pro-life series has taught me is that the CRCNA is deeply, unapologetically pro-life. 

“I am pro-life.” I hear those words frequently, but have come to realize that people who say them often mean different things.