Throughout our week together, we will explore the themes of reconciliation in the aftermath of personal, religious, racial, ethnic, national, and international. We'll look at the following topics:
Reconciliation and Justice
Many will say that without justice there can be no reconciliation, others will argue that the relentless pursuit of justice militates against reconciliation. How much justice we seek and what form that justice takes is a critical question in the reconciliation process. The Nierenberg Trials at the end of the Second World War did achieve some sense of punitive justice but did very little for reconciliation. Rwanda are seeking to achieve reconciliation through justice in their Gacaca process. Japanese courts recently ruled to deny justice to Second World War Chinese sex-slaves. The way that the US handles it own prisoners of war at places like Guantamino Bay will not only define the extent of their access to justice but also the level of (or lack of) reconciliation that will result.
Reconciliation and Truth
The bible says that the knowledge of truth sets us free – and in this case that is true for the victim but it is equally true for the perpetrator – that telling the truth sets one free. The place of truth telling is critical to the reconciliation process. Many will argue that truth telling does not go far enough but few will try to convince us that there is no need for it in the reconciliation process. Certainly it should at least be combined with contrition but that is a much harder thing to judge. The South African process used truth telling as its primary driver for reconciliation. Those who where judged to have told the whole truth were given amnesty, the rest faced the legal justice system. The Chilean process ignored truth and offered a general amnesty thus frustrating the process.
Reconciliation and Restitution
Restitution is a dirty word – especially for the perpetrator. How we seek to make right for what we have done is vital for the reconciliation process. Without restitution the burden of reconciliation falls heavily on the victim. But how one achieves restitution is also something for debate. How do Hutus offer restitution in Rwanda – nothing can bring back the dead. Countries like South Africa and Zimbabwe have implemented processes of land restitution and affirmative action policies in order to redress historical disadvantage – some have been more successful than others. Restitution seems to have been completely ignored in the case of first peoples in North America and Australia. This will be one of the key elements of any Palestinian – Israeli settlement. Restitution is a strong theme in Levitical law.
Reconciliation and Remembrance
Lest we forget – is an important process but depending on how it is handled it can lead either to reconciliation or perpetuation of conflict (all be it silent and cold). South Africa is using place names and public holidays to remember the atrocities of the past. Rwanda have memorialized massacre sites, Jews have created museums and memorials the world over to remind us of the holocaust. Is this remembrance even biblical, since God seems to forget our sins?
Reconciliation and Forgiveness
This is the real burden on the shoulders of the victim. Without offering forgiveness there is no reconciliation. This is much more than amnesty it is personal. This is not a call to forget but rather to chose not to be defined but what you suffered. Holding bitterness within ones heart is emotional exhausting and any sense of freedom has to start with forgiveness. But can the victim set conditions for forgiveness? Conditions like repentance, or restitution? Does God set conditions on our forgiveness?
Pre-emptive Reconciliation
So far we have looked at how we achieve reconciliation after the fact but is there a place to build relationships before atrocities happen, guarding peace while offenses are still small and before they compound and escalate? Certainly, and possibly this is the vital role of the faith community in the reconciliation process.
Reconciliation and Worship
In all of these we need to ask what the role of the church is – both the local congregation and the broader church community. And in that we should ask how worshipping the God who forgives and reconciles should aim us toward reconciliation.
Reconciliation
