Strelnieks

Check this out:

<a href="http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/news/3975748.htm" target="_blank">http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/news/3975748.htm</a>

{edited by Toto to tidy up URL and remove HTML that accidently happened to work. UBB doesn't accept HTML}

[ September 05, 2002: Message edited by: Toto ]</p>

Bible Humper

Um, duh?

"Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth."

Krieger

So that means anyone that wanted to strike back (get revenge) against Al Qaeda after 9-11 were promoting a tenet of Satanism.

Splat

Some inmates were locked up for holding satanic services? Umm...

4th Generation Atheist

Yeah, but you know damn well that the real purpose is to maintain a privileged status for Xianity in prison. I read in Free Inquiry once about prison wings actually being operated by religious organizations here and there, in places where the gov't is out of money and is contracting-out prison management.

If the issue were about promoting crime and violence in the context of religion, they'd jump on the brands of Xianity that promote a heavily retributive Gawd. They don't. Now, a real concern about religious activity in prison that is a cover for promoting violence is not objectionable, provided that policies are enforced across-the-board. That means, some brands of Satanism are out; "Xtian Identity" churches (which promote white supremacy and violence against minorities) are out; but mainline Xianity and Wicca are ok. So, why can't the prisoners have Wicca books? Because the policy is uneven. That Wicca chaplain in Wisconsin has her work cut out for her; looks like the fundies are using another tactic to go after her job.

Anti-Creedance Front

You know, one of the prime reasons we've got criminals back out on our streets, doing the same thing that got them into prison, is that they get out on parole by saying they "have reformed and repented their actions to Jesus Christ". They consider that reason enough to let them out, back onto the streets, but who can tell if they're lying? Prison ministries indirectly support criminal behavior.

4th Generation Atheist

That's one of the reasons I view a certain specific atheist argument with some skepticism. Many times we'll see it mentioned that there are far fewer prisoners reporting atheism as a philosophical preference than one would expect given the number of atheists in society. While I'd like to be able to use this statistic against zealous theist blockheads who want to characterize all of us as amoral , I'm afraid I have to refrain; there's just too much evidence that prisoners are rewarded for professing faith (provided it's Xtian) and that many might do so for bluntly cynical reasons. In a situation like that, it's hard to determine what prisoners' real religious views are. (This doesn't help the situation any for prisoners who really do have a strong religious feeling---in a controversial religion. Too often, it's used to deny minority-faith prisoners the opportunity to practice.)

Of course, Xtians are unlikely to bring this element up either; they'd like to think all those new-leaves really represented permanent converts. I guess with issues related to this everyone's likely to end up disappointed.