Death Penalty

A day of sadness and shame for the Asian-Oceanian region

There is surely no excuse for a a modern state: Asian,  European , African, American....and certainly not Oceanian...to support the death penalty

On a day when we are all concerned about the heaving casualties of great human tragedy in Nepal....our hearts are opened to  "a country like this......a  city like this" .
Our common humanity should remind us that we are citizens of a Common World. where  it is convenient to suggest we are privileged to live in security.

We will forget most likely about Sukumaran and Chan, executed this morning in Indonesia,......the stupid boys who became men in prison and then were slaughtered.

While there is some evidence to suggest that the 'ordinary' Australian community still has a hefty proportion of people who think it's OK to execute people.....if nothing else good has come out of this latest injustice in Indonesia it is that Australian political will appears to have been galvanised.
 against the death penalty. Equally well there is a serious issue about the way popular media has or has not aggravated this situation

One moderate commentator said this morning when the argument that "they had been rehabilitated" was again being put forward....'Well they were not there to be rehabilitated but to be......." and the conversation sort of tailored off.
I presume he was going to say punished!
Having been to Gaol in the last couple of weeks (here) I tried to talk about the process of reconciliation that the modern gaol is supposed to be on about. Mobilong Gaol seems to be doing pretty well in rehabilitating others.

Gaol is not just about punishment....though that is legitimate....we also should be about rehabilitation.

Both Chan and Sukumaran  appear to have been seriously and wonderfully rehabilitated...almost against all odds... there seems little reason to think that this is anything but genuine.

There are bigger questions too:  China continues to be the biggest executor . Dare we confront this powerful trading partner
The US, our most powerful ally,  is the most shameful and strident country participating in executions.  Where is our criticism of them?

There is much more to be said about this.

Prison versus gaol

It was a privilege last night to go to Mobilong "Correctional Facility"/ "Prison"/"Gaol or Jail".

It was another graduation service (the second of the week for me...the first being a University Graduation) but on this occasion for a group of about 20 prisoners in one of the State's prisons.
This is run by Kairos Prison Ministry. An ecumenical endeavour to prisoners, a short course, and weekly contact with those in jails. (we are still having a debate about jail  or gaol) 

The guys who did the course spoke about "what they had learnt" and "how they had changed". In some senses fairly trite questions...and the guys recognise this...but they roll with it.

Some of my observations:
These dot points have grown too long... I hope you read them all

• We had a good conversation in the car on the way home about the way language is used. We had all noted that the,  otherwise, very excellent speaker from the Dept. of Correctional Services used the lingo of her Department.  These were "offenders", and we and they  were told that Kairos was one step towards them getting back on the right track.  This is the language of the Department, I guess, but fairly heavy handed
• My first impression....and this is not the first time I have been in a gaol... as I looked at the security is that:  if this is 'medium and low security'  then what  is high security?  It all looked awful to me
• I was struck by the male membership of the Kairos team and supporters. This is not something that you always experience in the life of the church. It is good to see that  good men think this is valuable ministry
• My friend, Rob, had lured me by the assurance that the guys who would speak would be a  profound experience
• It was indeed,. Groups spoke...and then there was Open Mic ( as a person who does funerals I think this is a big mistake.) But today.......the groups Matthew, Mark, Luke and John....I wonder where those name came from.... and then (sometimes with a little reluctance) from individuals came very interesting reflections
• Most spoke about Forgiveness.  The guys spoke about three things:   How they needed to seek forgiveness.  Well yes!  
• how they needed to forgive...well that's a bit more challenging and complex...they are not only Offenders but are also Victims....some of them were able to even articulate that their families of origin didn't really support and/or love them.    This is bitter stuff. But they needed to forgive... the failures of those who should have done better
• They spoke mainly about the need to forgive themselves .....pretty deep stuff for guys who we may so often think of as hopeless!
• Finally,  and this is not everything I thought,  an APY guy played guitar and  about the Cross. he sang (I am told) in the Pitjantjara language (Were I a producer I would be signing him up today!!)
• I found myself pained, as one who has artistic proclivities, what do you do if you are denied the outlet of your life.   If there is no gyuitar in your room. If you cannot pen the poem that is in your heart (my particular issue)
• I am thankful to shake the hands of those guys...who had to return to lockup

These dot points have grown too long... I hope you read them

The locus of evil

I am always faintly bemused by the polemic of SA Attorney-General Michael Atkinson who this week declaimed that some members of the so called Gang of 49 were evil, beyond rehabilitation and better off behind bars. He has been more or less backed up by Premier Rann..(here)...ahhh "law and order" what better policy issue when the Opposition seem to be gaining a bit of ground.

My question to the Attorney is whether 'evil' is an appropriate legal descriptor. It seems to me it is not. It may be theological (and Atkinson is a sort-of Anglican) or it may be emotive but it is surely not useful when talking about what certain criminals are doing or what should be done about then.

It must also make prison reformers fume when a Labor Attorney declares that prison cannot at least attempt to rehabilitate the young offender. The offensive language, too, of other State Ministers who suggest that criminals should be racked, packed and stacked...or what ever...helps us to realise that the attitude to prison policy in this state is not exactly what you would call 'progressive'. Indeed it seems positively Victorian.

Hideous

Hideous docu-drama on SBS last night, The Road to Guantanamo. Essentially about British guys who may have got caught up in the whole shemozzle. They may have course have been guilty though the film makes a good case for them not being so.

But, in a way that is irrelevant.  Even if they were guilty as sin, and even if we acknowledge that only half of the abuse suggested on the film was true it was still too much.

The deliberate confining and restraining of people so that their minds would be strained, and their bodies broken; their dignity assaulted, and their basic human rights assailed...all this gives the lie to any idea that the captors were civilised.

While it is easy to suggest that (if they were guilty) these people may have been threatening lives, as soon as we commit atrocities in the name of 'justice' then the forces of evil have won.

If the civilised throw away their basic sense of decency and goodness, then they themselves have become the enemy...or should I say we ourselves have become the enemy.

Calling prison home

Number 3 came home today full of the case study they had done in 'extension'. It was about the Stanford Prison Experiment. Those who like me are involved in minor acadmeic research will be intrugued what you could get away with in the name of psychology in 1971.
S was fascinated by an academic experiment which had gone both horribly wrong, and intriguingly also exposed some very important truths.
I didn't really know very much about it; some volunteers are invited to play prisons. Half being the prisoners and half being the guards. It is a fascinating study of how we seem to intuitively know what to do when we imprison people...it's worth spending ten minutes to buzz through the slides. But pretty frightening really. (here)
What is of great interest to me is how my little girl is growing up!
I remember when K first started to tell jokes what a sign that was of intellectual growth, now the baby is critiquing the ethics of psychology experiments.
It's good isn't it?