Florida's Gov. Bush Dedicates Nation's First Faith-Based Prison

[pinto]

By Brendan Farrington Associated Press Writer
Published: Dec 24, 2003

LAWTEY, Fla. (AP) - Gov. Jeb Bush dedicated what he called the nation's first faith-based prison Wednesday, telling its nearly 800 inmates that religion can help keep them from landing in jail again.
In addition to regular prayer sessions, the Lawtey Correctional Institution will offer religious studies, choir practice, religious counseling and other spiritual activities seven days a week. Participation is voluntary and inmates are free to transfer out.

Bush lauded the inmates from 26 faiths for committing themselves "to a higher authority."

<snip>

Later, Bush told the inmates: "I can't think of a better place to reflect on the awesome love of our lord Jesus than to be here at Lawtey Correctional. God bless you."

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA1NC2BMOD.html

26 faiths?

[uhhuh]

1. That's Great Jebthro!

Why don't you get your whole family together and move in permanently to reflect on the awwsome love of the Lord Jesus forever. I think that would be just keen!!

[Goldom]

4. I'm not agreeing with it, but...

It's not innately bad to -offer- these things to the prisoners. That's still a big difference from forcing it on them. Of course, this is obviously just step 1 in that direction, so...

[jukes]

12. Goldom:

Seperation of church and state.

[Erika]

5. How's Jeb's Daughter?

Another amazing POS by the GOP. Jeb has no problem in emptying state coffers into right-wing radicals pockets to run prisons as long as they will recycle the taxpayer monies to the GOP nominees. No problem at all. These people are wicked. Where was Jeb when Noelle needed him?

[cosmicdot]

2. surprised lightning didn't strike when he broke into his Jimmy Swaggert

nothing like having an under oath elected official upholding our Founding Principles by tearing down those walls between church and state

[PartyPooper]

3. There's nothing quite like separation of church and state prison.

"I can't think of a better place to reflect on the awesome love of our lord Jesus than to be here at Lawtey Correctional. God bless you." --Jeb Bush

:eyes:

[Sugarbleus]

18. ROFLMBO......... too funny PP

Thanks for the well placed sarcasm..lol

[madrchsod]

6. ya right

what a load of shit. there`s a long list of why prisoners want to sign up for this. probaly 20% believe in faith ,the rest see it as a means to an end.

[pinto]

8. kick...n/t

[Blaze Diem]

7. Jeb's clearing the path of the future token inmate..Reverand Rush..

Can just hear Rush at Sunday prison services..a white robe over his orange jumpsuit. preaching in his own form of vial "tongues"..to those who have gone astray. Go for it Rush. Its a new venue for your big fat mouth. Jebbie's creating a new prison work realease job just for Rush. Let him preach to inmates who could really give a crap about Rush or Jeb.

[Erika]

9. Chuckle

Rush as the preacher. The GOP continue to lower the bars of decency.

[Lorien]

10. My dad works at a state prison

as a psychologist. He says that many of the inmates are fundie Christians who say that "it's all in the Lord's hands" and don't take any personal responsibility for their actions. Those are some of the toughest ones to parole because they blame their personal choices on God and believe that "since Jesus died for my sins" those "sins" are automatically wiped away for them. I guess it's one way of coping emotionally for one's wrongdoings, but it certainly doesn't seem to offer much hope in preventing further wrongdoings.

[sasquatch]

16. I used to work for and with Fundie's in Heating and Air Conditioning

How you described it is exactly how they are. They think God will take care of everything and they don't need to be responsible for anything.

[lazarus]

11. so, being faith-based

There are no bars or doors or guards, right? They just rely on the "awesome love of our lord Jesus" to keep folks in line?

[PsN2Wind]

23. My first thought exactly

Go home and incarcerate yourself until you are pure of thought, then go forth and sin no more.

[pocoloco]

13. Let the Games begin!!

[tritsofme]

14. Jeebus, I thought this was from the Onion!

But theyre just that crazy

[BuckeFushe]

15. What prison would Jesus choose?

Just wondering.}(

[plaguepuppy]

17. WWJDT?

Where would Jesus do time?

Not to be too cynical about it, for these actual guys it probably is a very positive thing. Prison and gang life is much more coercive than religion could ever be, and just to be free of that influence could be genuinely liberating.

Let's not fall into that leftist anti-religion thing...
If the last century showed anything it showed that committed secular monsters with rationalist agendas can be just as evil as the most bloody religious zelots.

[Sugarbleus]

20. Funny subject line and..

Yes, I DO agree with you about the left anti-religion thing. I was so put off last night with a liberal talkshow host who was, on christmas eve, GOD BASHING. He kept backtracking and saying he didn't say this or that. He got a LOT of negative mail. One man called in to say he was anti-bush because the cowboy was not really behaving christ like AT ALL, then this host got ALL FOAMY AND STARTING INSULTING THIS CALLER! Saying there is no God and he (host) was better than god etc. He totally blew this caller away and that's not good IMO because it's imperative that we who do believe try to get the message out that Bush is, indeed, a forerunner for the freaking ANTI-CHRIST. I am a christian and I am a reformed fundie but I'm not anti-god at all. I do believe in the separation of church and state and my freedom to worship as I want and the freedom for those to not believe in anything at all. It's all good.
Hitler got the "church" community behind him when he went after "anti-god" liberals to make HIS agenda work. It's a trick. The fundies don't get it yet, but it's my particular mission to see that they do.
With Bush or any radical repug in office, we could indeed be headed for Armaggedon..(or WWIII)
Anyone interested in what I'm saying can go visit a quaint site that has some interesting data and a few good links at:
http://www.liberalslikechrist.com

Peace yall...

[doubleplusgood]

19. if they REALLY believe in the power of religion

...then why don't they just perform exorcisms on the prisoners, to rid them of the demons that SURELY made them commit crimes ? No need for prisons then right ?

[Judi Lynn]

21. Jeb has always seemed so spiritual. Almost too saintly for this world.

[Gin]

22. A room for you and your family...along with your brother in Washington

will be reserved. We promise.

[saskatoon]

40. He is an out and out son of a bitch, click on this link.

http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/BushFV.html

[teryang]

24. Prisons are tax based not "faith based"

Nothing done in a prison is free. It is a coercive environment. This program is an effort to offset negative BFEE publicity concerning the outrageous conditions in so called "private" prisons. I'm sure that any scrutiny of the funding of this program at the Lawtey facility will reveal another JebFRAUD devious plan.

[peekaloo]

25. Saint Jeb! but will they be allowed to vote once released?

[retread]

26. I smell a huge RAT!! First of all, "..participation is voluntary". Then

"... free to transfer out." Later Bush says something like "wouldn't it be great to go from 38% to 0%."
They're going to cherry pick inmates for this thing, if they show any signs of problems transfer them out, then point to a low recidivism rate as a reason to expand the program.

[leesa]

27. I wonder who is making the faith based bucks off of this?

[donsu]

29. a bushgang member for sure

isn't this one of the private owned prisons?

and won't the church group that will be doing the instructing get paid?

[Judi Lynn]

28. Not only did the Cuban "exiles" see the Virgin Mary in a bathroom mirror

in the house where the boat-sinking survivor Elián was held prisoner in Little Havana in Miami, they also are seeing the Virgin on the side of a bank building now in Clearwater:

Image of Virgin Mary on Clearwater building still draws visitors

The Associated Press

CLEARWATER, Fla. --
A small but steady stream of visitors still comes to gaze upon an image resembling the Virgin Mary, first found during the Christmas season seven years ago on the side of a bank building near a busy six-lane highway.

While the 60-foot vision doesn't draw the tens of thousands it attracted when it gained worldwide publicity in December 1996, faithful still come to say prayers and light candles in front of the image.

"When I come here, it gives me happiness," said Gennet Tekelhaimanot as she visited what has become known as "Our Lady of Clearwater" earlier this week. The Ethiopian immigrant credits the image with answering her prayers to help her mother recover from a stroke.

"My mom was sick, so I went to pray and I got an answer from God," Tekelhaimanot told The Tampa Tribune. "It is a miracle."

She is one of many who say the image in rainbow hues along the side of the black glass building is a message from a higher power.

Others insist the image is possibly a chemical residue or discoloration from lawn sprinklers.
(snip/...)
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031224/APN/312241014

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Do you think it's possible that you could draw a mustache on the blotch on the bulding, and get thrown into the faith-based prison?

[artr2]

31. I work about a 1/2 mile from that place

I call it the fruitcake zone. People who believe this shit tend to vote repukkk. Can't tell bs from reality

[truthisfreedom]

30. while his brother the president boosts the military-industrial complex to

new financial highs, making it the most financial powerful industry in the world, jeb chimes in with the second-place prison-industrial complex, holding almost 2,000,000 'merkuns and sucking the people's money out of treasuries like there is no tomorrow.

all the while, half of our military is occupying land that's "floating on a sea of oil," and bushco does everything it can to incite more and more religious violence... from calling the invasion a crusade to the painting and display of saddam's sons' bodies and the shaming of saddam in capture, everything bushco does is calculated to psychologically increase hatred and violence and keep that treasury money flowing, flowing, flowing.

[peterh]

32. Faith-based prison's schedule offers some revelations

Too funny…..yet there are parts that I feel could be real….


http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/auto/epaper/editions/wednesday/local_news_f36dd9ab56b002fc0093.html

11 a.m. -- Class: Bible Study for Burglars (inmates may be asked to share books due to pilferage from previous sessions); Classroom 1.

11:30 a.m. -- Bringing in the shivs. Last chance to turn in weapons; no questions asked; north tower.

11:45 a.m. -- Fellowship of Christian Convicts Luncheon (National Football League will provide speaker); dining hall.

Noon -- Radio club: Learning from Rush "Talent on Loan from God" Limbaugh; detox unit.

1 p.m. -- Seminar: Snake Handling for Dummies. One slot has suddenly opened up for this seminar. Admission: one cigarette or two candy bars. Not for beginners; Classroom 2.

[Judi Lynn]

39. When they have completed their time they could emerge

as well-mannered as Jimmy Swaggert, or Jimmy Baker, unless they really apply themselves.


mighty holy Swaggart



holier than whom? Bakker

[drscm]

33. Do you think Rush will find Jesus? eom

eom

[Malva Zebrina]

34. so there are twenty six faiths and all are going to convert?

why would persons from twenty six faiths join in the Jesus parade? Shouldn't they have their own faith based dorms, according to each religion? Why, if there are twenty six faiths represented in this part of the prison, do they no have all the faiths being given the same as the Jeb Bush Christian , and protestant, I presume, faith? Seems strange to me that there are so many different faiths and only one of them gets this goody.

[pinto]

36. the disconnect is what got me, too, in this story. 26 faiths represented

among the inmates in the program (plug diversity here)then Jeb's quote to the inmates about the lord Jesus...

It's a partnership program with a local Christian church.

I've seen faith-based programs that work well within the incarcerated population, but they are all self-directed and self-run...

I smell money.

[stevebreeze]

35. This is NOT a new notion

The word penitentiary comes for the root penance. It was thought if you went to prison and thought about your action (with nothing to distract you) until you became repentant for them you would not return to crime. This idea fell out of favor because it flat out did not work. We do have many things that CAN and have been proven to reduce recidivism, drug treatment springs to mind, we just don't want to pay for them.
:Kick:

[maxanne]

37. boy oh boy

aren't they giving these folks something helpful for when they get out of prison. A bellyfull of fundyjesus.

A shame they aren't offering some real education, training, drug/alcohol treatment, and life skills for the day these men will be released. Reflecting on the awesome love of our lord ain't gonna pay the bills, or keep them on the straight and narrow.

[bvar22]

38. Buddhism has a much better record for...

...positive behavior change,and a wonderful anti-violence philosophy of gratitude and acceptance. The track record for Christianity is very poor in those areas. Historically, the Christians have very bloody hands.

If there is going to be a faith based prison, the USA would be much better off if that faith is Buddhism. I will personally send jebbie his first saffron robe and donate toward the haircut.

[PurityOfEssence]

41. Can't think of a better place?!

"I can't think of a better place to reflect on the awesome love of our lord Jesus than to be here at Lawtey Correctional. God bless you."

Boy, I can think of some better places: posh penthouse, warm tropical beach...hell, just about any place would be better than a PRISON.

What kind of country is this becoming?