Topic: Christian Responsibility for Criminal Justice
g g g g g g g g g g The Christian response to criminal justice has to be fair and balanced.
Even for the most disturbing crimes sometimes rehabilitation should be the focus.
Many states still make use of the death penalty for murder, yet God chose
rehabilitation and punishment for Cain concerning the murder of his brother Able.
Many other Christian characters in the Bible were spared the death penalty for
murder including King David. The death penalty is not immoral by biblical
standards because God supports its use when absolutely necessary, however,
rehabilitation appears to be the main goal if possible. “Capital punishment cannot
be inherently immoral because God mandates this for universal application (Gen
9:6). On the other hand, God himself did not insist on it, either for the first
murderer, Cain, or for the most prominent, David.”[1] The four main goals of the
Christian response to justice are rehabilitation, punishment, protection of the
innocent, and deterrence. Again the key focus is on rehabilitating the person that
committed the injustice if possible.
g g g g g g g g g g The punishment needs to fit the crime to be considered fair and
balanced. One such example is America’s war on drugs, rehabilitation is almost
nonexistent when lending aid to those that commit a crime that is widely
considered as unimportant when compared to other more vicious crimes,
provided no one was harmed in the act. Michelle Alexander believes crime law
reform and rehabilitation are the keys to making headway in America’s war on
drugs. “We've got to find a way to do both, we've got to work for the abolition of
the system of mass incarceration and the war on drugs while providing
desperately needed aid, love, support, health care services, mental health support
to people who are struggling to survive in the era of mass incarceration.”[2]
Church involvement in rehabilitation efforts in prison show to benefit those
incarcerated for a multitude of crimes. Many efforts have been made to keep
religious organizations out of actual state-sponsored rehab programs, mainly due
to religious bias due to the separation of church and state, however, church-
sponsored rehab organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous have proven results.
“The overall and ultimately important consensus reached in the literature is that
prisoners who actively engage in religious activities and/or consider themselves
religious are likely to derive significant benefits both while incarcerated and post-
release.”[3] These positive results occur while offenders are in prison and once
they are released. Many of these church-based programs start with the concept
of forgiveness and build the offender's confidence in who they are in Christ and
give them hope for the future.
g g g g g g g g g g In the case of minor drug possession offenses, it appears a church
rehab program that is state-approved would be a better course of action than
incarceration. Churches with Christian counseling programs should be the first
choice in assisting those that have been arrested for minor drug offenses.
Christian counseling programs have been successful in aiding failing marriages
as well as those that suffer from addictions like drugs and alcohol. Many of these
offenders end up as victims of sex crimes and other abuses, further stripping
their dignity and self-worth that has already suffered the stigma of being called a
felon. Crimes, where there is no victim, should not turn the offender into a victim
during incarceration. “Strong movement has emerged toward decriminalizing
“victimless” crimes—crimes in which there is no complainant. These include drug
use, drunkenness, gambling, vagrancy, prostitution, and pornography.”[4] In James
5:16 (ESV), part of rehabilitation is confessing sins and praying for healing.
Ezekiel 36:26 makes another strong case for Christian rehabilitation as it testifies
the repentant person will be given a new heart and spirit to replace the old self,
this passage also echoes 2 Corinthians 5:17 concerning repentance leading to a
new creation. Addressing any criminal behavior starts with addressing the root
cause, sin. The only answer for the forgiveness and defeat of sin is the saving
grace of Jesus Christ. True repentance and rehabilitation depend on a heart
change that can only take place with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is for
these reasons rehabilitation efforts that include Christian programs have a higher
rate of success. Every effort should be made to aid the rehabilitation and
restoration of nonviolent criminals and the evidence supports the use of Christian
rehabilitation programs for positive outcomes after the offense.
Bibliography
Akunesiobike, Chibueze Adindu, M.Sc. "The Role of Religious Groups in Offender
Reformation: A Study of the Port Harcourt Prison in Rivers State, Nigeria." The
Journal of Pan African Studies (Online) 9, no. 10, 2016: 108-21,
http://ezproxy.liberty.edu.
McQuilkin, Robertson. An Introduction to Biblical Ethics: Walking in the Way of
Wisdom. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014.
Stopford, Annie and Llewellyn Smith. "Mass Incarceration and the “new Jim
Crow”: An Interview with Michelle Alexander. " Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society
19, no. 4, 2014: 379-391.
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture references are taken from the ESV Bible. n.d.
[1] Robertson McQuilkin. An Introduction to Biblical Ethics: Walking in the Way of
Wisdom. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014, 440.
[2] Annie Stopford, and Llewellyn Smith. "Mass Incarceration and the “new Jim
Crow”: An Interview with Michelle Alexander. " Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society
19, no. 4, 2014: 379-391.
[3] Chibueze Adindu Akunesiobike, M.Sc. "The Role of Religious Groups in
Offender Reformation: A Study of the Port Harcourt Prison in Rivers State,
Nigeria." The Journal of Pan African Studies (Online) 9, no. 10, 2016: 108-21,
http://ezproxy.liberty.edu.
[4] McQuilkin, Biblical Ethics,432.
