Customer Reviews

The Mystic Heart of Justice: Restoring Wholeness in a Broken World

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This excellent book compares our current system of Retributive Justice, which focuses on retribution and punishment, with the nascent Restorative Justice movement, which focuses on restoring balance and finding healing. Throughout the book, major flaws of the current system are highlighted. These flaws demonstrate how we all suffer from the 'power over' and 'might makes right' paradigms of retribution. The benefits of seeking balance and healing from the effects of crime, rather than vengeance, assists individuals and our whole society toward greater security and peace. Key to the whole idea of "mystic Justice" is that "outer Justice" is impossible to attain unless individuals hold a true vision of living a just life, "inner Justice", within their hearts. This books shows the path toward this achievement. An excellent, prophetic vision.

Denise Breton and Stephen Lehman have put together a brilliant philosophical essay on restorative justice is a fruit of wisdom, courage, and moderation based on ancient principles of aboriginal spirituality as well as Socratic dialogues.
For Canadians the best part is their commendation of relationship restoration coming out of the Canadian Restorative Justice case studies such as Satisfying Justice, from Ottawa.
This book along with Breton and Largent's Paradigm Conspiracy form a basis for finding peace in a broken and violent world. Highly recommended.

Mystic Heart Of Justice covers the field of restorative justice, considering its importance as an alternative to the traditional reward-punishment model and applying this new system to the current justice system and the cultural forces which dehumanizes the individual. Blending philosophy and spirituality with a treatise on social change, Mystic Heart Of Justice provides an excellent and different - albeit scholarly - view on restoring a damaged world.