March 19, 2015 Editor

Whither Now?

Justice Without Violence Conference, June 5 – 7, 1997, Albany, New York

An excerpt:

Introduction

Whither Now? The question presupposes a prior: Whence Already?

Part of knowing who we are is discerning from where we have come. Do we feel rooted in a hopeful story? Part of our cultural milieu is to deny there is a “metanarrative”, an overarching story. I am suggesting nonetheless that we are storied people, and that there is a discernible storyline for us to follow.

To what kind of story are we accustomed? Where have we come from? From all our experience, study, knowledge, do we know of any time in human history where violence has not attended the human story? Do we know of any time in history where desire has not urged humans to imitate the desire of others, such that rivalry arises and violence erupts? What human society, what human culture, has been free of desire that leads to violence? Literary scholar René Girard calls this universal phenomenon “mimetic desire”.

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Editor

Wayne Northey was Director of Man-to-Man/Woman-to-Woman – Restorative Christian Ministries (M2/W2) in British Columbia, Canada from 1998 to 2014, when he retired. He has been active in the criminal justice arena and a keen promoter of Restorative Justice since 1974. He has published widely on peacemaking and justice themes. You will find more about that on this website: a work in progress.

Comments (2)

  1. Ԍreetings! Very helpful aԁvice in this particular post! It’s
    the little changes that will make tһe most important changes.

    Many thanks for sharіng!

    • Hi.

      You are so welcome.

      Thank you too for your comments. I too am an incrementalist–sometime steps forwards, other times backwards. Hopefully always learning . . .

      The best to you.

      Wayne

Always appreciate constructive feedback! Thanks.