I recently attended the Greenbelt festival for the first time, and experienced typical bank holiday festival weather, (for some of the time). That didn’t dampen our spirits and we took the opportunity to listen to some fantastic speakers. I am going to try and describe some of the treasure that was shared with us in my next few TFTDs. (If any readers were also at Greenbelt and wish to add comments, please feel free to do so).
One of the aftermaths of all the rioting that has taken place recently is that our prisons are fuller than ever. I am fortunate enough to never have been inside a prison, but we were reminded that we are all just a few steps away if our personal circumstances change.
In “Criminal (in)justice 101” it was interesting listening to two ex-offenders, a prison chaplain, and ex prison governor discussing how some of the most unjust things are happening in the name of justice in the UK. The message was not so much about the “unfairness” of having to pay for a crime committed, both ex-offenders had accepted they had committed a crime and the consequences to their liberty. It was also about how we as a society treat ex-offenders once they have served their sentence.
I was reminded of the passage from Micah 6:8 “act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.”
In the context of the criminal justice setting, to act justly requires the perpetrator to accept the consequences of committing a crime. That may or may not be a custodial sentence – would the rioters be “punished” by repairing the damage caused by their actions?
To love mercy – What can we do to help offenders as they serve their sentence? Once a sentence has been served, how can we help ex-offenders get back on their feet?
To walk humbly – for anyone who has experience in the criminal justice system – mine was sitting on a jury – what is sadly all too often the case, is that there is always a back story, often going way back into childhood, when bad decisions are made and circumstances work against the individual. Of course, not everyone who comes from a broken home, or who suffers abuse goes on to commit a crime, but the statistics show that all too often these are factors that play a significant part in a criminal’s behaviour.
What can we do?
Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.