Sanctuary People

Abbot Christopher Jamison, from BBC2's THE MONASTERY and new show THE SILENCE, suggests ways in which the teachings of St Benedict can be helpful in everyday life. Have you ever wondered why everybody these days seems so busy? In FINDING SANCTUARY, Father Christopher Jamison offers practical wisdom from the monastic tradition on how to build sanctuary into your life. No matter how hard you work, being too busy is not inevitable. Silence and contemplation are not just for monks and nuns, they are natural parts of life. Yet to keep hold of this truth in the rush of modern living you need the support of other people and sensible advice from wise guides. By learning to listen in new ways, people's lives can change and the abbot offers some monastic steps that help this transition to a more spiritual life. In the face of many easy assumptions about the irrelevance of religion today, Father Christopher makes religion accessible for those in search of life's meaning and offers a vision of the world's religions working together as a unique source of hope for the 21st century.

Book Three in the Diaspora Worlds Series Kyler, Heir to the Protectorate of New Prague, manages to rescue his brother and Sabralia but is stranded on a spacestation. He hides from Gorvas hunters by taking shelter in a Starwoman's Sanctuary with the forgotten poor. Starwoman Skyleen is unlike any woman he has ever known, and he finds he wants to stick around for a bit. He has responsibilities back home on New Prague, though. Then he receives and advanced warning that an invasion is coming. Skyleen suspected the man was trouble. Too young, too healthy and far too attractive. He did not belong in a Sanctuary. But they had the room, and she was interested in learning more about him, if there was time in her busy day. Then he tells her of the invasion. She needs to get five hundred vulnerable people off the spacestation. Kyler, with unlimited credit, is willing to hire a ship. It looks like she will get to know him better.

While many in the criminal justice system would agree that the present punitive system of crime control is ineffective, unjust, and malevolent, there is little enthusiasm for talk about reforming the system or for a reexamination of its fundamental premises. In Justice as Sanctuary, noted Dutch criminologist Herman Bianchi details a new approach to crime control, one that promises to reanimate debate and initiate real change. He explores the cultural and religious roots of the current punitive system in search of new perspectives that can help create a more just and effective one. In the ancient Hebrew notion of tsedeka ("justice" or "righteousness"), Bianchi finds the inspiration for a new model of crime control based on conflict resolution rather than punishment. Because so many feel alienated from the criminal justice system, he argues for new procedures that will enable people to experience law as supportive of their lives and their social interactions. To complement the current punitive system, Bianchi proposes a system that provides victims and offenders a chance to resolve their conflicts and offers them the opportunity to reach non-punitive systems. By incorporating the concept of liability, Bianchi's model returns to offenders the responsibility for their acts while providing an active legal role for the victims of crime. It adapts structures and models from civil and labor law for conflict resolution of nonviolent crimes, and in the case of violent crimes, and in the case of violent crimes, proposes the creation of special "sanctuaries" that would protect the public while making it possible to effect true justice. Startling in its implications, Bianchi's system is not a utopian dream, but a carefully considered set of proposals that could be acted upon today.