The Christ-centered Prison

[catbert836]

Bill Robinson's plan to build a Christian-based prison has failed four times, but his faith could be rewarded on his latest try.

Since 1986, when Texas officials declined to back his plan to house state prisoners in a Liberty County lockup, the former convict and longtime prison minister's Bible-backed proposal to rehabilitate the criminally inclined has been doomed by financing or political problems.

This time, Robinson's Corrections Concepts Inc. is hammering out the details with Tom Green County to build and operate a $35 million, 624-bed lockup in San Angelo, and he has the former chairman of the Texas Criminal Justice Board and a former Oklahoma warden on his side.

<snip>

Rob Boston, spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said that arrangement is unconstitutional because it uses tax dollars to advance evangelical Christianity.

"We don't object to volunteers going into the prisons. Prison ministries do a lot of good work," Boston said. "What we object to is using state money to pay for these programs. Government is not supposed to advance or inhibit religion."

<snip>

More... http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/3651750.html

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. I don't mind if there is a prison ministry,

as long as all faiths are welcome and no prisoner is compelled to attend any religious meeting he or she doesn't want to attend. I have a BIG problem with anyone building a prison that will be run according to a particular religious tenet.

[catbert836]

2. Yes, I agree.

It says in the article that there is a faith-based prison in Florida, which has members of 20+ religions.

[beam me up scottie]

4. That's being challenged.

Faith-based prisons are thinly veiled attempts to give government money to religious organizations.

Old Jebby used his brother's "faith-based" programs to violate the Constitution in Florida.

Using government money to segregate uber-religious prisoners from others is despicable.

Florida's new approach to inmate reform: a 'faith-based' prison

Ken Cooper is a convicted bank robber whose life changed after visits in jail from a retired Sunday School teacher. Now, he's getting the chance to return the favor.

Wednesday Mr. Cooper, who has become an evangelical minister, will give the prayer of dedication at a Florida experiment in inmate rehabilitation: America's first totally "faith-based prison."

The medium-security facility will house only inmates who have chosen to take part in rehabilitation programs run by volunteers from religious groups.

*****************



"A state can no more create a faith-based prison than it could set up faith-based public schools or faith-based police departments," says the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which has a federal lawsuit pending against a state-sponsored evangelical Christian project at a prison in Iowa. "Governor Bush is trying to merge religion and government."

Critics see the governor's decision as giving momentum to the wider agenda pioneered by President Bush, his brother, to expand federally funded faith-based initiatives nationwide.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1224/p01s04-usju.html

[catbert836]

5. Thanks for the info

Glad someone's doing it.

[beam me up scottie]

6. The fundies always find a way

to make it sound like they're doing something wonderful, don't they?

I never forget that that's how the Taliban were able to get control of the government in Afghanistan.

[varkam]

7. In the words of Bill Maher...

September 11th was a faith-based initiative.

[beam me up scottie]

8. As much as I personally dislike the guy

for his misogyny, he does have a way with words.

"Let's be honest - this electorate has switched because that Christian right has taken over the Republican Party. They started it in the '80s with Reagan and Pat Robertson. And like a parasite on a host, they now own it… Let's examine what 'moral values' are. Because I don't think religion always corresponds with moral values. To me — and they're very good at conflating morality with religion, just the way George Bush won election by conflating integrity with monogamy. He ran against Bill Clinton and his terrible blowjob by saying, 'I have integrity.' That's different than monogamy. Okay, the same way, when we talk about values, I think of rationality in solving problems. That's something I value. Fairness, kindness, generosity, tolerance. That's different. When they talk about values, they're talking about things like going to church, voting for Bush, being loyal to Jesus, praying. These are not values."

Real Time with Bill Maher, 5 November 2004; shortly after the 2004 U.S. presidental election

[catbert836]

9. Indeed.

When heard about that prison, it didn't seem like such a bad idea. Too bad the media doesn't feel obligated to report the other side of these issues.

[beam me up scottie]

10. They've been planning this for a long time.

We're not dealing with amateurs.

The media is either complicit or too incompetent to look for the real motivation.

[catbert836]

11. Too complicit or incompetent...

I remember when the whole Pledge of Allegiance debacle was going on... the media seemed to be more interested in playing out-of-context clips of Newdow as the mean old athiest and his answering machine, which had callers adressing him as a communist, rather than informing people what the debate was actually about. Seems they never stopped doing that.

[beam me up scottie]

12. I don't think anyone has come up

with a way to neutralize the effects of a corporate media.

We're informed because we know we have to search for the truth, but most Americans either don't care or don't want to find out what's really going on.

Cognitive dissonance seems to be the norm.

[Zhade]

13. Hell, you should see some DUers go on about Newdow.

They sound exactly the same, and misrepresent him just as much.

It's quite disheartening that so many good liberal-minded people will get so nasty when an atheist dares to remind them of our obligation to keep the wall of separation of church and state intact.

[ikojo]

3. They want to churn out right wing foot soldiers

Given that in many states former felons cannot vote.