The Hurt with Fetters Podcast

In this concluding episode, Author Jason Karch calls us back to the Gospel and the biblical basis for criminal justice. 

What do we mean when we say a person has 'rights'?  From where do those rights come?  Who ensures that a person's rights are not violated?  What happens to those rights when a person is convicted of a crime and sent to prison, or does a prisoner have rights?  All these questions and more are considered in this episode with author Jason Karch, hosted by pastor Greg Smith.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ makes forgiveness available to all who will receive it.  While God is Just, He also is a forgiving God and He offers forgiveness to all.  But is there any place for forgiveness in the current narrative of Criminal Justice? In this episode, author Jason Karch argues that for there to be true justice as modeled by God, then restoration, reconciliation, restitution and yes, forgiveness, must be offered and made possible to be received by the offender who violates the law.

The administration of justice in our culture tends to dehumanize the offender, or the one convicted of a crime, so that just about any thing that is done to him is considered warranted.  In this powerful episode, author Jason Karch speaks to this tendency and the theological implications that it carries with it.  

The punishment of crime in America has little to do with justice.  The word 'Justice' has become only a by-word that is used to validate a practice that is altogether relative and arbitrary.  One needs only look at the disparity that can be found in how similar or identical crimes are punished.  Author Jason Karch discusses the deeper issue that is exposed in this disparity, namely the denial of the humanity of the one who has committed the crime.

When a debt has been paid it is canceled and there is no longer anything left to pay.  But for those convicted of crimes in America, the debt is never canceled.  Although the convicted felon may serve his full sentence as prescribed by law, he is forever known as a "convict", a reality that has ramifications for everything from employment to housing.  Author Jason Karch discusses this reality and the implications that an understanding of Atonement in Christian doctrine brings to bear on the issue.

When we lose a sense of divine law, we lose an emphasis on love.  Without a sense of love, we lose the necessary point of reference for justice.  Author Jason Karch discussing the critical point at which the criminal justice system has failed in the administration of its mandate.

Law is a necessity of our fallen world.  Law also implies a 'lawgiver' and the Law is a reflection of the Lawgiver.  Author Jason Karch discusses the theological implication of man's law verses God's Law.  Since God is Love, His law is a reflection of His Love and for man's law to be just, it must be founded upon God's Law.  

What exactly is justice? Does it mean that everyone is treated equally under the law? If so, can there ever really be justice in a system administered by flawed human beings? In this episode, author Jason Karch argues that true justice must be rooted in the personhood, or personal being of God Himself.  Unless and until our system of justice finds its foundation in God, there will never be any true justice.

The reality that everyone is a sinner and has sinned is a basic tenet of Scripture.  In this episode, author Jason Karch suggests that the root or basis of our sin is selfishness and it is found in every person, good or bad.  Thus, when applied to the administration of justice, the 'good people' are not the arbiters of justice for there are no 'good' people.  We all stand guilty before the final judge of the universe.