The Department Of Christian Corrections
There might not be any evidence for god; nevertheless, thanks to the Bush administration, god is everywhere these days. The latest place the faith-based initiatives have snuck in is in prison, where prisoners are tempted with an alternative to solitary confinement -- somewhat less solitary confinement with the god squadders, writes Silja J.A. Talvi in the Santa Fe Reporter:
...There is one area of the prison that stands in particularly sharp contrast to the bleak desperation of the segregation pods: the God pod.Officially this is the Life Principles Community/Crossings Program. It's a program officials consider the real "success story" within the confines of NMWCF. As a housing pod, Crossings has been around for four years with the enthusiastic support of the prison administration and Chaplain Shirley Compton. More recently, CCA picked Crossings as one of eight sites nationwide to pioneer a new partnership with a fundamentalist Christian ministry named the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP).
Although it is not the only religious activity at the prison it is, by far, the most institutionalized and structured. In many ways, it also is the most problematic from a First Amendment point of view. It is in this unit that the blurring of the line between church and state is most evident, harkening a new turn in corrections toward Christian-based programming that has begun to truly influence (or, depending on one's perspective, to infiltrate) the nation's prisons.
Religious programming for prisoners has been around for years. At NMWCF, volunteers from churches of various denominations come in to lead Catholic mass, baptisms, Bible studies and other activities, and an Albuquerque-based ministry named Wings has gained particular preference to conduct its large-scale, Christian-based family reunification program/pizza party events inside Grants (and, soon, many other prisons across the state). The Kairos Prison Ministry, the mission of which is to "bring Christ's love and forgiveness to all incarcerated individuals" also has a presence.
But an increased emphasis on religion from the federal government has impacted the scope – and amount of money – available for such programs.
In fact, two adult prisons in the Florida corrections system are now entirely faith-based, while Florida's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has launched the nation's first Faith and Community Based Delinquency Treatment Initiative. (Funding from the federal government has placed such an emphasis on the faith element of juvenile programming that many previously secular treatment and residential facilities for youth have made the decision in the past year to center their programs on "faith" in order to keep receiving money.)
Oh, to hell with the First Amendment. It's good for the prisoners, huh?
Here's a good test for whether a faith-based initiative works from a constitutional perspective: If the god-squadders would scream if an atheism-based initiative were put into place instead -- teaching rationality, secular ethics, and personal responsibility, a la the Josephson Institute -- their funda-nutter-based program is probably a big constitutional no-no!
Until we decide that we are going to rehabilitate criminals, we might as well punish them, which, this surely does. What would you hate more, spending a day in privacy or being forced to listen to someone tell you that the earth, itself, is younger than scientists know the sphinx to be?
Little ted at March 10, 2005 10:27 AM
I'm shocked at how some of the biggest problems in our society lack the assistance of any significant secular organizations. A friend who struggles with drug addiction has repeatedly been on the verge of checking himself into a rehab program. Unfortunately, where we live in Atlanta, all are religiously-oriented, so he turns away. The guy needs help, but he's not willing to fake a belief in JC to get it.
Amy - this would be a very interesting story for a journalist of your caliber - an expose on the lack of secular treatment facilities for drug addicts. Of course, in SoCal, things may not be so bleak.
Chris Wilson at March 11, 2005 8:57 PM
I wish to present an alternative point of view. I am one of those "God squadders" you have slighted in your blog. I am an active participant in the Kairos Prison Ministry in Florida.
At no time do we force anyone to believe in anything. We come to the prisons only wishing to share the impact of Jesus Christ in our lives with the hope that the residents who we serve (yes.. we consider our efforts as service to them) might see something in our lives that they want for their own.
We are honest when we enter the prison... we tell them that this is a Christian ministry. However, we also tell them that they can walk away from the weekend with nothing more than some cookies and the time they spent away from their prison routines.
We raise all of our own funds in support of the ministry. The prisons don't pay a penny to bring us inside the wire. In fact, we pay the prisons for the meals we eat... and boy... it is truly delicious food!!!! NOT!!!
But the real value of what we do lies in the results. By simply attending a Kairos weekend, a resident is about 30% less likely to return to prison within three years of release (the official definition of recidivism). We have also found that for those who continue with the program, they are almost 70% less likely to return. Those are pretty good statistics for a program that doesn't cost the taxpayer anything.
Maybe you'd rather pay the $18K - $26K per year (depending upon locality) to keep these folks incarcerated. However, from a purely fiscal point of view, if my efforts help save $54K - $78K by keeping one man out of prison for at least three years, my "investment" has been worthwhile. I wish I could make that much on the stock market!
I haven't even touched upon the spiritual aspects of our efforts as I believe that this forum would tend to look upon those things with disgust and derision. However, God is moving very powerfully in the prisons. He is turning around broken lives. I can't see any harm in that!
Chuck Bradley at August 7, 2005 6:22 PM
When can I come in and share the impact of another storybook character, Harriet The Spy, on these prisoners? If these prisoners had rationality -- which is what you, as a god believer lack -- they probably wouldn't be there.
god, as far as I see, doesn't exist. What's moving powerfully in those prisons is a bunch of deluded people who are getting people to join their parade -- which might have the side effect of keeping people out of jail. Why not preach zeus as the way or Harriet the Spy? If you pretend to believe in that stuff as fervently as you believe in the existence of god without proof, I'm sure you can get many followers.
Please check your calendar. It's the 21st century. Isn't it time you used scientific methodology to decide what to believe in -- ie, standards of proof and rationality -- and didn't just suck down what you were told at church? Tragic.
Amy Alkon at August 7, 2005 6:31 PM
Here's an article that should help you understand the difference between believing everything you're told and using reason to examine evidence and decide what makes sense to believe -- based on actual proof. Sigh. How sad that you have the capacity to reason, yet leave it packed away in mothballs.
http://www.csicop.org/si/2005-03/evolution.html
Amy Alkon at August 7, 2005 7:48 PM
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