From vision to action: some principles of restorative justice

Source: (1997) Church & Society. 32-42.

Faith communities are essential to any approach to restorative justice. The vision of restorative justice – a vision of responding to crime by focusing on repairing the injuries caused by crime and promoting healing for victims, offenders, and communities – probably cannot be sustained without the help of faith communities. There is an enormous gap between what we teach in our churches, mosques, temples, and synagogues and what we practice in daily personal and political life about the possibilities of forgiveness and redemption and about the fundamental dignity of all human life. Faith communities have the moral responsibility and the resources to help American society as a whole grapple with our present responses to crime and violence that intensify the underlying conditions of disconnection and alienation, two conditions that breed crime. (excerpt)