Religion for Captive Audiences, With Taxpayers Footing the Bill

[Zenlitened]

New York Times, December 10, 2006

Religion for Captive Audiences, With Taxpayers Footing the Bill

By DIANA B. HENRIQUES and ANDREW LEHREN

Life was different in Unit E at the state prison outside Newton, Iowa.

The toilets and sinks — white porcelain ones, like at home — were in a separate bathroom with partitions for privacy. In many Iowa prisons, metal toilet-and-sink combinations squat beside the bunks, to be used without privacy, a few feet from cellmates.

The cells in Unit E had real wooden doors and doorknobs, with locks. More books and computers were available, and inmates were kept busy with classes, chores, music practice and discussions. There were occasional movies and events with live bands and real-world food, like pizza or sandwiches from Subway. Best of all, there were opportunities to see loved ones in an environment quieter and more intimate than the typical visiting rooms.

But the only way an inmate could qualify for this kinder mutation of prison life was to enter an intensely religious rehabilitation program and satisfy the evangelical Christians running it that he was making acceptable spiritual progress. The program — which grew from a project started in 1997 at a Texas prison with the support of George W. Bush, who was governor at the time — says on its Web site that it seeks “to ‘cure’ prisoners by identifying sin as the root of their problems” and showing inmates “how God can heal them permanently, if they turn from their sinful past.”

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/business/10faith.html

[Eric J in MN]

1. Find an Atheist Meetup near you.

http://www.meetup.com

Or a Humanist Meetup.

[zonmoy]

2. sounds like they have a captive audience and of course give them

every possible perk for being brainwashed into their evil cult.

[piedmont]

3. Wouldn't surprise me if they were 12 steppers nt.

[papau]

4. interesting - but not one word on effect of program - do more or less return to prison - does

values teaching require an atheist approach to be constitutional (the courts are saying no these days) - the idea of no money to faiths seems dead, but where is the line and how should it be drawn -and nothing in the article except he said/she said as to the programs good outweighing the bad.

If these programs fall into the "ok" side of the Constitution - can these programs be made non-insulting to other religions, denominations, and even the confirmed atheist criminal? Again nothing said in the article.

A very unsatisfying read - in many ways.

[Zenlitened]

5. Recidivism figures would be interesting to see.

But I'm not sure they would get at the question of whether direct taxpayer funding of these programs is desirable.

If the programs work, all well and good. Let religious groups pay for them -- and agree to some honest oversight, some legitimate boundaries -- while taxpayer funds go to ending recidivism without religious proselytizing. Because the proselytizing is the problem:

...In ruling on that case, Judge Pratt noted that the born-again Christian staff was the sole judge of an inmate’s spiritual transformation. If an inmate did not join in the religious activities that were part of his “treatment,” the staff could write up disciplinary reports, generating demerits the inmate’s parole board might see. Or they could expel the inmate.

And while the program was supposedly open to all, in practice its content was “a substantial disincentive” for inmates of other faiths to join, the judge noted. Although the ministry itself does not condone hostility toward Catholics, Roman Catholic inmates heard their faith criticized by staff members and volunteers from local evangelical churches, the judge found. And Jews and Muslims in the program would have been required to participate in Christian worship services even if that deeply offended their own religious beliefs.

(snip)

“The state has literally established an Evangelical Christian congregation within the walls of one of its penal institutions, giving the leaders of that congregation, i.e., InnerChange employees, authority to control the spiritual, emotional and physical lives of hundreds of Iowa inmates,” Judge Pratt wrote. “There are no adequate safeguards present, nor could there be, to ensure that state funds are not being directly spent to indoctrinate Iowa inmates.”

It just seems to me that this goes way beyond prison ministry when it sets up a whole system of rewards and comforts -- not to mention potential influence on parole decisions -- all predicated on sitting through indoctrination sessions.

Smacks a little too much of the cults that prey on struggling college kids with the offer of a hot meal and some conversation. The kid may be wise to what's going on, and still fall victim to skilled recruiting techniques.

But worse yet, it just seems to obliterate church-state separation, which is one of the most precious principles our nation holds. Any breach in the wall should be regarded as potentially dangerous, and prompt us to look for alternatives. Surely there must be ways to solve problems and address issues of this sort in a way that preserves our Constitutional ideals, rather than eroding them.

[papau]

8. I agree as to feeling like cult recruiting - but on the "constitutional" question it was

not until the 1960's as I recall that separation between church and state had a USSC that wanted to get as close to "bright line" decision making as possible.

I wonder where this court will draw that "bright line".

Getting values teaching done is important - and if religious variations of such teaching are offered at the same time as non-religious teaching of values, with "rewards" the same for the two programs, I have a hard time seeing the problem.

[Warren DeMontague]

6. I don't think it requires an "atheist approach" but there NEEDS to be an equivalent secular

alternative.

Like, if courts are going to mandate 12 step meetings for people with addiction problems or DUIs (something most 12 steppers resent, by the way) they NEED to allow people to attend alternative, secular meetings that don't involve "Turning your problem over to God" and "higher powers". And they do exist.

If people are getting cushier digs and better treatment because they're playing a gov't mandated Jesus game, that's unconstitutional.

[Warren DeMontague]

7. I bet it's teaching a lot of prisoners to lie through their teeth.

Yes, sir, when I get out, I'm never going to look at porn, use birth control, have sex or take George Bush's name in vain! I swear!