Search results for: restorative justice

Restorative Justice and Spiritual Origins, November 19, 2004

WN: Some of the papers on Restorative Justice are understandably repetitive, though I culling the obviously such. image above: sikhnet.com Restorative Justice and Spiritual Origins, November 19, 2004 By Wayne Northey In 1974 two youths who had been drinking and had been “talked to” by the police already, took out their frustrations on the small […]

Restorative Justice: Peacemaking NOT Warmaking

IRPJ.org (Institute for Religion, Peace & Justice) presents an interview with Wayne Northey (host: Brad Jersak) highlighting the contrast between Western criminal justice as retributive pain-delivery and the inclusive, restorative, community justice that more effectively serves those who offend, those they’ve harmed, and the communities in which they live. Transcript: IRPJ Q & A with […]

From Restorative Justice to Transformative Justice, Tri-Cities Justice Forum, November 29, 1999

From Restorative Justice to Transformative Justice, Tri-Cities Justice Forum, November 29, 1999 WN: I had forgotten about presentations such as the above. As I recall, the provincial government of British Columbia Canada was offering grants to municipalities wishing to do Restorative Justice initiatives. In 1999 CERA (Communities Embracing Restorative Action) was formally founded as a […]

ANCIENT PRACTICES OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

7th International CURE Conference on Human Rights & Prison Reform April 25-29, Alajuela San Jose, Costa Rica by Bruno van der Maat WN: It was great having spent time at the Conference with Bruno van der Maat, Senior Professor, Director of Master Studies, Universidad Católica de Santa María Graduate School, Arequipa, Peru. He is a very gentle, thoughtful […]

Select Bibliography of Key Restorative Justice Works

Select Bibliography of Key Restorative Justice Works Compiled by Wayne Northey WN: Today, I updated a bibliography, especially weighted towards theological and generally academic works, that I have appreciated. Compilation of this list began decades ago. I think most are still discoverable, the links current. It is copied below, and there is a link to […]

Restorative Justice Then, Now and A Dream

WN: A massive body of Restorative Justice literature has emerged. A superb early study is Restoring Justice (Strong and Van Ness, 1997). A great early overview of the wider context is The Expanding Prison (Cayley, 1998). The first major study was Changing Lenses (Zehr, 1990) – considered a classic. The two best Christian theological studies […]

The Spiritual Roots of Restorative Justice – Christianity

WN: This paper was jointly written by Pierre Allard and me. It arose from a book publication by the same title as above (minus “Christianity”). The actual paper as it appeared in the book in part may be found here. The paper as I believe sent to the publisher’s is below. An excerpt: Introduction “It […]

Spirituality of Restorative Justice

WN: Presented at Arts & Peace Festival, Restorative Justice Workshop, March 1, 2001. Something similar was also presented at Regent College in 2003. It is also clickable. an excerpt: Centrality of Western Christian Spirituality for Criminal Justice The defining religious ethos of Western spirituality historically has been Christianity. Christianity has also been the reigning ideology […]

Spirituality Evaluation of Restorative Justice

Sixth International Conference on Restorative Justice, “Best Practices in Restorative Justice”, June 4, 2003 WN: I attended and presented at a few such Conferences over the years, especially in the years I worked for Mennonite Central Committee (MCCC): 1989 to 1998. an excerpt: I thought I’d look at a Christian Spirituality of Restorative Justice through […]

Restorative Justice and M2/W2 Ministry

M2/W2 (Man-To-Man/Woman-To-Woman) is the Restorative Justice agency with which I was associated for forty years. An excerpt: A few years ago, at a VOMA (Victim Offender Mediation Association) conference in Des Moines, Iowa, I saw a plaintive note on a bulletin board: DOES ANYONE KNOW OF ANY RESTORATIVE JUSTICE VIDEO RESOURCES THAT ARE NOT RELIGIOUS?! […]

Restorative Justice

WN: This was written for a now defunct magazine called “Friend“. It is a brief statement about Restorative Justice. Please click on: Restorative Justice – for Friend

‘In the Middle:’ Biblical Reflections on Restorative Justice

WN: Tom Yoder Neufeld presented this to the Mennonite Central Committee Canada Restorative Justice Network in Winnipeg in 2003. It well deserves a current readership. The second footnote below was a reader compiled by me for MCCC. An excerpt: I have been asked to reflect on Restorative Justice in relation both to ways the Bible […]

“Not Enough!” and International Restorative Justice

Colloquium on Violence & Religion (COV&R) Presentation, May 31 – June 4, 2006, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada WN: When I finally decided to register to present a paper at my friend Vern Redekop’s urging (he was the Conference host), there was only a slot left under French language workshops. I immediately asked two bilingual colleagues about […]

Restorative Justice Stories — MCCC 50th Anniversary, December 14, 2013

WN: This paper was presented in Winnipeg exactly 50 years after 40 men(!) gathered to establish Mennoninte Central Committee Canada: 43 years after its US counterpart had been founded. It was a privilege to have been part of the “story-telling” on that occasion. (If the notice is kept on the website, see: MCCC 50th Anniversary.) […]

Restorative Justice and Spiritual Origins

November 19, 2004 WN: I cannot recall where this was published/presented. A similar article also on this website (“Restorative Justice Stories – MCCC 50th Anniversary, December 14, 2013”) was presented nine years later in Winnipeg exactly on the MCCC 50th anniversay weekend, and on the occasion of the launching of Esther Epp-Tiessen’s book, Mennonite Central […]

Restorative Justice Vision and Spirituality

Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Presentation, Langley Canadian Reformed Church, March 5, 2005 WN: I was grateful to co-present at this evening with current MP Mark Warawa, a former volunteer with M2/W2 Association. It was politically a stretch, but the church is all about “strange bedfellows” brought together in the messiness of God’s grace. […]

Spirituality Evaluation of Restorative Justice

Sixth International Conference on Restorative Justice, “Best Practices in Restorative Justice”, June 4, 2003 An excerpt: A few years ago, at a VOMA (Victim Offender Mediation Association) conference in Des Moines, Iowa, I saw a plaintive note on a bulletin board: DOES ANYONE KNOW OF ANY RESTORATIVE JUSTICE VIDEO RESOURCES THAT ARE NOT RELIGIOUS?! Restorative […]

Restorative Justice and Prison Visitation

WN: The following was written for the Mennonite Brethren Herald, and published August 2001. This was also typical of similar articles and presentations while I worked with M2/W2 Association (eventually known fully under my leadership as Man-To-Man/Woman-To-Woman – Restorative Christian Ministries). I was a volunteer with the program beginning in 1974, and never stopped visiting prisoners […]

Creating New Hearts: Moving From Retributive to Restorative Justice

New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference: A Pastoral Letter to the Catholic People of New Zealand Wednesday August 30, 1995 – Wellington. Signed, The New Zealand Catholic Bishops This call was powerful and prophetic. An excerpt: Restoration was the primary focus of biblical justice systems. Despite the widely popular misuse of the concept of lex talionis, […]

A Brief Look At Restorative Justice

NOTE: This was written several years ago to give a basic look at Restorative Justice.  It has been slightly updated, August 2013. An excerpt: To set a context for the programmatic emergence of Restorative Justice late in the twentieth century some historical and anthropological comments are helpful. Please click on: A Brief Look At Restorative […]

Restorative Justice

  NOTE: Some of what follows is excerpted from Chapter One of Justice That Transforms: Volume 1 WN: From a Canadian vantage point, Dr. Herman Bianchi, a Dutch criminologist, is one of the three “grandfathers” (if one must use that term) chronologically of Restorative Justice, together with Mark Yantzi and Dave Worth, the first and longstanding […]

New Book! — Justice That Transforms: Volume 1

WN: Wipf and Stock Publishers gratefully re-published (my re-edited) Volume 1 of a series by the same title, January 9, 2020. The first edition had been published September 2018. The graphic artist created a beautiful cover, as you can see! You may click on the cover to be taken to the Publishers’ website page for […]

Justice That Transforms — Book Series

First 3 Volumes Fall 2018; Volume One Republished January 2020; two more projected late 2023 SEARCH and ARCHIVES options are at the bottom of all website pages. WN: I’m pleased to add this page about three books produced fall 2018. They are of my writings on Restorative Justice over the years, including (in Volume One) […]

Transformative Justice Vision and Spirituality

WN: Some of the material in the essay below, now reworked, first appeared in The Spiritual Roots of Restorative Justice, “Christianity: The Rediscovery of Restorative Justice”, editor, Michael Hadley, by Pierre Allard and Wayne Northey; New York: SUNY Press, 2001. In light of two books by historian William Cavanaugh, I would be less sweeping about […]

Transformative Justice Vision and Spirituality

WN: Much of this material first appeared in The Spiritual Roots of Restorative Justice, “Christianity: The Rediscovery of Restorative Justice”, editor, Michael Hadley, by Pierre Allard and Wayne Northey; New York: SUNY Press, 2001. In August 1998, all contributors to the above book project converged on Sorrento Centre for a week. The book project and […]

Restorative Reintegration

Sixth International Conference on Restorative Justice, “Best Practices in Restorative Justice”, June 1, 2003 photo above: reintegrationaustralia.com.au An excerpt: For over 25 years, the terminology of “Restorative Justice” has had increasingly wider acceptance and resonance within criminal justice jurisdictions around the world. As has come widely to be acknowledged, Restorative Justice is more than an […]

Towards A New Paradigm of Justice

WN: Contemporary Western Restorative Justice theory and practice were not first developed by Americans, though they have greatly contributed to its worldwide expansion. In particular Howard Zehr’s name stands out in the earlier and subsequent years; but not as theory originator, or first practitioner. From a Canadian vantage point, Dr. Herman Bianchi, a Dutch criminologist, […]

Compassionate Justice

An Interdisciplinary Dialogue with Two Gospel Parables on Law, Crime, and Restorative Justice, Christopher D. Marshall, Eugene Oregon: Cascade Books, 2012 An excerpt: At the first national teleconference in the United States on Restorative Justice (in 1991 I believe), a woman asked the panel about the Christian roots of Restorative Justice. She was assured by […]

Reconciliation–WN Contribution to:

illustration above: The rescue by (Anabaptist) Dirk Willems. Engraving by Jan Luiken in Martyrs Mirror, v. 2, p. 387 of Dutch edition. Scan provided by Mennonite Library and Archives WN: Reconciliation is a key term in the New Testament. The article excerpted below was written in 1989 at the invitation of The Mennonite Encyclopedia (Volume […]

Rwanda Dispatches May 18 to July 12, 2018

At 30 years on to this day, April 7, 2024, the Rwanda Genocide broke out, that saw more than 1 million Rwandans murdered. CBC did the interview you see below. 30 years after Rwandan genocide, Roméo Dallaire feels ‘rage’ amid global crises | Watch (msn.com) Roméo Dallaire led the UN’s peacekeeping mission when more than […]

Easter Song and Reflections on the Resurrection

***NOTE: Please check out the footnotes for additional, more detailed commentary. Also, there are poetry and songs in the final footnote; and four additional songs below that.*** Please also see two great sermons, one on Good Friday, the other on Easter Sunday, by my colleague Randy Klassen: both in the context of criminal/restorative justice. Easter […]

Sitemap

SEARCH and ARCHIVES options are at the bottom of all website pages. Front Page Sitemap Blog Privacy Policy About Me Holding Forth Restorative Justice Justice That Transforms–Book Series–First 3 Volumes Fall 2018 Book Reviews List Chrysalis Crucible – A Novel Contact Me [wp_sitemap_page only=”post”]

Devotional – M2/W2 Staff-Board Retreat, June 12, 1999

WN: In 1998, I became Executive Director of M2/W2, a Restorative Justice/Prison Visitation program. I held that position until retirement in 2014. The first several years were good. Relationships between Board and myself fared well. In my last four years with the agency, with the arrival of a new Board member, whose express purpose I […]

Is Violence Master of Us All?: Fight, Flight or Just Peacemaking

WN: The host was the affable lawyer Gerry Palmer, quite well-known in Abbotsford for his work with numerous non-profit organizations, and an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Business at the University of the Fraser Valley. Is Violence Master of Us All?: Fight, Flight or Just Peacemaking Philosopher’s Café: Legal Grounds Coffee House, Abbotsford, April […]

Paper and Story: “The Sex Offender as Scapegoat”

 John 12:20 – 33; John 11:49-52: 49But one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! 50You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” 51Caiaphas did not say this on […]

Reflections on “Drone Strikes and Torture Will Cause Big Blowback”

November 5, 2021 by Brian Cloughley photo above: AK Rockefeller – CC BY 2.0 WN: It is ominous to read at the end of the highlighted article: Although the long-term consequences are measureless, there is no doubt that “explosive events” will blow back for a long time to come. The military-industrial complex has been manufacturing […]

On A letter from Hell

By Robin Schumacher, Exclusive Columnist photo above: pxhere.com WN: It is interesting that the photo chosen for the article highlighted below (not shown above) is along the lines of what Larry Dixon wrote (The Other Side of the Good News: Contemporary Challenges to Jesus’ teaching on hell 1 in apparent approval of an instance of […]

Josh McDowell steps back from ministry after controversial remarks on black families

By Michael Gryboski, Christian Post Reporter September 23, 2021 photo above: Josh McDowell speaks at Talbot Chapel at Biola University in California on January 21, 2020. | YouTube/Biola University WN: Meanwhile, 82 years and 150 books in, Christian “intellectual” McDowell has finally learned something about Black History in America? Thank God we’re never too old […]

States of Incarceration

by Emily Widra and Tiana Herring   Tweet this September 2021 WN: My strongest statement about the horrors of worldwide incarceration and penal abolition is here: Restorative Justice: Peacemaking Not Warmaking; Transformative Justice: Penal Abolitionism Not Prison Reform. It was done for The Kenarchy Journal, Volume 2, Article. For the full PDF, please click on the […]

Gospel as Counter-Narrative to Empire

SEARCH and ARCHIVES options are at the bottom of all website pages. The website is dedicated to: The Gospel as Counter-Narrative to Empire.     More on Empire below. PLEASE NOTE: the Sitemap. There is also a list of all Book Reviews separately, and alongside each post. You may search the Blog too. Please consider […]

Haiti’s fate is intertwined with the U.S.

By Ishaan Tharoor with Claire Parker  Email photo above: A man speaks on the phone next to a mural in the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami on July 8. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters) WN: Haiti is a made-in-France-and-America tragedy . . . Please see Egberto Willies on this: My wife Esther and I visited there in 1991, […]

Canada’s Solitary Confinement Deemed “Torture”:

WN: Please consider signing the petition begun today. After nearly fifty years of work in Canada’s Criminal Justice System, and seeing personally and professionally how prisons in general, solitary confinement in particular, often do irrevocable harm to their keep, it seemed appropriate to use this platform for the petition. All statements are supported in the […]

Opinion: Prolonged solitary confinement is torture. It’s time for all states to ban it.

Opinion by Tammie Gregg and Donna Lieberman April 28, 2021 at 5:00 a.m. PDT image above: Julie Lai for The Washington Post WN: My wife Esther and I felt uniquely fortunate to have attended the Conference below: CURE International Conference Costa Rica 2017 Over 40 prison reform advocates representing a dozen countries participated in CURE’s 7th […]

Out of Sight / Out of Mind

The Magazine: Spring 2021 COVID-19 in prisons got our attention. Manitoba has quietly been home to the highest incarceration rates in the country, with a grossly disproportionate number of Indigenous people behind bars. And Canada has one of the highest prison rates in the world. Members of our UM community who’ve witnessed a broken system […]

Why America’s Great Crime Decline Is Over

March 24, 2021 Derek Thompson Staff writer at The Atlantic photo above: wisegeek.com WN: The “new model” called for in the interview highlighted below is ever one of the “Beloved Community.” Brutal, violent response to crime is in itself the greater crime; one that has short-term benefits, but massive long term harms. I argue this […]

Introducing: The Kenarchy Journal

NOTE on image above: Foot washing by UK artist Dinah Roe Kendall WN: It is exciting to introduce The Kenarchy Journal! Roger Mitchell1, the Editor and Founder, created the neologism, “kenarchy,” explaining: Kenarchy is a newly constructed word signifying an innovative, inclusive reconfiguration of Jesus’ politics of love. It is derived from ken(osis): emptying out […]

Cornel West: The Whiteness of Harvard and Wall Street Is “Jim Crow, New Style”

By George Yancy, Truthout Published March 5, 2021 photo above: yankeewikis.com WN: I first became involved with men in prison in 1974, at a time the first prison I visited (Oakalla Prison, Burnaby BC, Canada) still operated under a military regimen with many ex-military hired as guards; with an ex-air force serviceman as chaplain who […]

Houses of hate:

Dangerous, racist and falling apart. By nearly every metric, the nation’s penal system is not just failing, it’s making things worse. By Justin Ling February 28, 2021 photo above: Medium security range at Stony Mountain Institution in Stony Mountain, Manitoba (Correctional Services Canada/Flickr) WN: The article highlighted does not sugar-coat the reality: Canadian prisons (and […]

The Incomparable David Cayley

WN: Introduction Below is a clickable list of many of David Cayley’s Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC) about 50-minute-long podcasts. They were presented between 1980 and 2012, the latter date when he retired. Who is David Cayley? To quote theologian Brad Jersak, Clarion Journal‘s curator: I think he’s truly among Canada’s greatest thinkers. Few who know his […]

Donald Trump’s new reality:

By George T. Conway III January 22, 2021 WN: George Conway knows American law and history, clearly has done his homework, and makes eminent sense–at least to one fairly deficient in the above! 🙂  In my Restorative Justice work, there was no substitute for accountability, however much the scales invariably tilt towards grace and truth […]

RJWorld eConference, August 22 – 31, 2020: Robbie Robidoux & Wayne Northey

RJWorld eConference, August 22 – September 6, 2020: Robbie Robidoux & Wayne Northey RJ World 2020 was a 17-day (extended by 7 days) online showcase of more than 100 inspiring presenters from around the world – facilitators / practitioners / teachers / researchers / artists – who are passionate about sharing insights and ideas in […]

Life Under the Bomb Means a Life of Resistance

Published on Thursday, August 06, 2020 by Common Dreams by Rev. John Dear photo above: “Our message over the years has been simple and urgent: Nuclear weapons have totally failed us. They don’t make us safer; they don’t provide jobs; they don’t make us more secure—these are age-old lies. Instead they bankrupt us, economically and […]

RJWorld eConference, August 22 – 31, 2020: David Milgaard & Wayne Northey

RJ World 2020 was a 17-day (extended 7 days) online showcase of more than 100 inspiring presenters from around the world – facilitators / practitioners / teachers / researchers / artists – who are passionate about sharing insights and ideas in the realm of restorative justice and restorative practices in all sectors. WN: David Milgaard […]

Book Review of Dispelling The Clouds

Book Review of Dispelling The Clouds by Wilma Derksen [NOTE: Please click on highlighted title above to be taken to Wilma’s site, where you may read many responses/reviews.]  When Wilma asked that I be a pre-publication reader of her new book, I felt honoured. When I sent her a quick email upon completion of reading […]

Why this ‘genius’ scholar is mapping out the world’s largest jail system

photo above: Kelly Lytle Hernández, who received the MacArthur ‘genius’ grant, views prison abolition through the eyes of rebels Fri 11 Oct 2019 by Sam Levin WN: In a revised forthcoming publication by Wipf and Stock Publishers, namely Volume One of Justice That Transforms, I write: Longtime Restorative Justice promoter Howard Zehr once directly critiqued […]

Good Friday Sermon and Easter Sermon, 2017 by Randy Klassen

Good Friday Sermon and Easter Sermon, 2017 by Randy Klassen photo above: Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem WN: Randy Klassen is an esteemed member of the CoSA Canada Board, and past National Restorative Justice Coordinator for the Mennonite Central Committee Canada. That position and others were sadly eliminated due to financial restructuring at MCCC […]

On the Record: Jody Wilson-Raybould’s Devastating Testimony on the SNC-Lavalin Scandal

On the Record: Jody Wilson-Raybould’s Devastating Testimony on the SNC-Lavalin Scandal Trudeau tried to pressure justice minister to cut deal to let corporation avoid bribery prosecution, she says. By Tyee Staff February 27, 2019 | TheTyee.ca photo above:Jody Wilson-Raybould: ‘I come from a long line of matriarchs and I am a truth teller in accordance with the […]

Trump routinely says things that aren’t true. Few Americans believe him.

Trump routinely says things that aren’t true. Few Americans believe him. Polling A new Washington Post Fact Checker poll Take the quiz to see how your fact-checking skills stack up against others nationwide. Reporting by Glenn Kessler and Scott Clement Graphics by Kevin Schaul Analysis and fact-checking by Emily Guskin, Meg Kelly and Salvador Rizzo […]

Compulsory Compassion

A Critique of Restorative Justice, Annalise Acorn, Vancouver: UBC Press, 2004, 207 pages WN: A Christian acquaintance and fellow theological student at Regent College in 1975 told me of this book, delighted about such a critique of Restorative Justice, and wondering what I thought. My response was the review you may click on below. New […]

Dancing With Elephants

Mindfulness Training For Those Living With Dementia, Chronic Illness or an Aging Brain (2017), Jarem Sawatsky, Winnipeg: Red Canoe Press excerpt: This is a mind-blowing book! It is written by a man whom my wife and I knew when a child, because of intersecting with his parents (our contemporaries) when they lived in Vancouver, later […]

A Better Man

WN: This is a riveting film about a former couple who meet up 20 years after the male subjected his partner to horrific violence in their relationship, before she finally, after two years, breaks away. It is brilliantly edited, and offers great hope and insight to women who are abused, as well as huge challenge […]

Salvation as At-One-Ment

book cover above: Stricken By God? is an anthology of papers by authors from all the major Christian traditions, arguing for a nonviolent atonement. WN: My paper1 specifically argues for a restorative justice view in contradistinction to the the retributive view of justice as described below, one that flows out of a violent atonement theory. […]

Rediscovering Spiritual Roots:

WN: This was done in 1996 for a double issue of a U.S. journal, called The Justice Professional. I began and ended with the story of Claire Culhane who, though atheistic, so represented justice to me. A few peculiarities: the «» marks could not be replaced with quotation marks; and the Endnotes could not be […]

A Halting Spiritual Quest

A Halting Spiritual Quest WN: This was given as a talk to a Mennonite Fellowship, and to a group of prison visitation volunteers; both sometime in the early 2000’s. An excerpt: As a Christian, I affirm three things in my work with prisoners. I think all Christians should! The burden of this meditation is to […]

Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross

Reappropriating the Atonement Tradition, Hans Boersma, Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004, 288 pages. WN: Both in dialogue and in reading Dr. Boersma, it has never been clear why violence must be smuggled into the Christian project. David Bentley Hart in reading postmodern authors holds out for consistent nonviolence in The Beauty of the Infinite: The […]

Holding Forth . . .

. . . or fifth . . . or sixth . . .     Below is a smattering of sermons preached and presentations made over the years. Langley Mennonite Fellowship (our home Church) began a series called, God: Then & Now; Always & Eternal. The classic image used is Trinity (Троицa, romanized: Troitsa)  by 15th-century […]

WAR AND HELL – and Exception-Clause Footnote Theology

WN: War and Hell is an interactive essay with a movie and a book. The movie: Saving Private Ryan. The book: The Other Side of The Good News: Contemporary Challenges to Jesus’ Teaching on Hell, Wheaton: Victor Books, 1992 (later published by one other at least). The current iteration of this document was prepared for […]

Against The Death Penalty

Christian and Secular Arguments Against Capital Punishment, Gardner C. Hanks, Herald Press, 1997; 208 pages After this review was published in 1998 in a local Christian newspaper, I received a phone call from a then M2/W2 volunteer with a curious surname: “Bullett”. He needed to talk with me immediately! When he came to my office, […]

Book Reviews List

SEARCH and ARCHIVES options are at the bottom of all website pages. A Farewell To Mars: An Evangelical Pastor’s Journey Toward the Gospel of Peace –Brian Zahnd Against The Death Penalty: Christian and Secular Arguments Against Capital Punishment –Gardner C. Hanks A Gentler God: Breaking Free of the Almighty in the Company of the Human Jesus […]

Enemy Love As Core Gospel

WN: I wrote this in the context of M2/W2 ministry. Ironically, the Board and one contractor displayed profound enmity towards me just as I was moving towards retirement from M2/W2. The enmity began October 2013 that led to a contractor’s filing a “WorkSafeBC” complaint against me December 2013. It was rejected by WorkSafeBC, but there […]

René Girard and Violence

WN: The paper below was (re)written just for my own joy in 1997, with subsequent rewrites. A version was prepared for a Fraser Valley BC “Christ and Violence” conference in 1998. It almost got me fired before hired! One of the interviewers for my (new) position as Executive Director of M2/W2 Association had taken exception […]

The Spirituality of Penal Abolition

ICOPA IX Presentation 2000 Noted Canadian Quaker activist and author Dr. Ruth Morris was the main organizer of the above annual event, that year in Toronto. She later was a recipient of Correctional Services Canada’s Restorative Justice Award, and of The Order of Canada. Her death from cancer (September 17, 2001) was a huge loss […]

Beyond Retribution

A New Testament Vision for Justice, Crime, and Punishment,Christopher D. Marshall, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001, 342 pages. An excerpt: This book is central to “secular” Western culture, steeped ineluctably in Judeo-Christian trappings, in its quest to move towards Restorative Justice. “It is an irony of history”, claims Religious Studies professor James Williams, “that […]

About Me

SEARCH and ARCHIVES options are at the bottom of all website pages. I retired as Director of Man-to-Man/Woman-to-Woman–Restorative Christian Ministries (M2/W2) in British Columbia, Canada in 2014. I have been active in the criminal justice arena and a keen promoter of Restorative Justice since 1974. I’ve also published in this field for many years, including: […]

Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation

Book Review of: Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2020, 356 pages WN: This is one of the few times I also posted a book review to this Blog. This is a highly disturbing–and informative–book. In an interview with Religion […]

Paul and Christian Social Responsibility

WN: New Testament scholar Chris Marshall first published this piece in 2000. There is another piece on this site (Is Paul the Father of Misogyny and Antisemitism?), by Pamela Eisenbaum, Pauline scholar, practising Jew, feminist, and professor at a Christian seminary (Iliff School of Theology). She subsequently wrote Paul was not a Christian: The Original […]

Dianne Tramutola-Lawson–Class of ’60

WN: Dianne is one of the amazing volunteers in charge of Colorado CURE. Please enjoy this brief interview: You may also click on St. Mary’s Academy link to article; and here is the link for St. Mary’s Academy. My wife and I have had the good fortune of being members, and I represent Canadian CURE. […]

The Case for Reparations

Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole. Story by Ta-Nehisi Coates June 2014 Issue WN: NOTE: This piece appeared in The Atlantic  6 years ago. It […]

America’s Arms Sales Addiction

November 17, 2019 The 50-Year History of U.S. Dominance of the Middle Eastern Arms Trade By William D. Hartung Honestly, if a single corporate entity controlled three-quarters of the global market in a product, you’d call it a monopoly, right? Well, in 2011, that was the situation of the United States when it came to […]

Mandela Rules Highlight Conference April 25-29 in Costa Rica

I’ll be speaking at this conference and will present this paper. Below is the press release for this event: The revised United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners will be the theme of the 7th International Conference on Human Rights and Prison Reform which will  be held at the Marriott Courtyard (near […]

Vengeance is Love – Klaas Goverts (trans. Floris and Judith Kersloot)

WN: The brief article below so captures the absolute essence of biblical justice, biblical vengeance. See also my book review of God’s Just Vengeance; and also Christopher Marshall’s two outstanding studies on biblical justice that is invariably restorative, here, and again here. “Vengeance is Love” (Mar 26, 2012) by Klaas Goverts, translated by Floris and Judith […]