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I wrote a post a couple of months back denouncing the creation of Christian prisons, a concept which was described by its founder as…

…a private prison administered by Christian officials, attended to by Christian guards, adhering to Christian programming and stocked with Christian prisoners — and that full funding for it depended upon states agreeing to send 285 prisoners to the facility.

My final comment on that post read:

Sigh.  Another screwed up idea courtesy of the clowns at the Christian Taliban.

A reader took exception to my take on the issue and penned the following response.

Re. your comments/conclusions/objections to the notion of a separate prison for “Christians”; I read something to th effect of:”What about prisons for the atheists, Muslims,…etc.” Mr. Piperni, we already have these in place and funded with tax dollars, i.e., the existent prison system wherein these concentrations of beliefs or the absence thereof are already followed and even provided for with our tax dollars.

Furthermore, the individual states already utilize juvenile facilities that are privately funded and of which many are underwritten and operated under the auspices of a Christian organization. To these facilities juveniles ,convicted of crimes that would send adults to state penal systems, are sent for “treatment”.

I am retired from a state government system wherein I was employed by tax dollars as a “Juvenile Services Specialist” and my duties were to assess the security needs, the treatment needs,(considering the psycho-social background and particular diagnoses present), and with a view to not only incarceration but also to rehabilition.

In that capacity, my state department which was funded and operated by the monies provided by the elected general assembly and the office of the governor, was directed to use the afore mentioned facilities to augment our state operated facilities system. This is necessary because of the tremendous load of criminal offenders on the stretched/strained state budgets – and also because we found that the “Christian” facilities proved to be very effective in reaching the state’s goals of rehabilitation. Statistical data showed time and again, when professional reviews done by outside “observers”, (those with no obligation to the state), that these “Christian” resources were as effective and many times more so than state operated facilities.

Your objections are without scientific basis, and clearly show your own phobia against all things “religious” that may press for a moral, ethical, and rational/realistic answer to the nations “woes”.
Sir, crime is rampant because of the breakdown in our society of the solidity of the family unit. The Judeo-Christian values offer a stable basis on which to orient the family unit.

The two parent (heterosexual) family unit has historically proven to be the backbone for a strong society.

I challenge you to publish this viewpoint and invite objective feedback. (Or would that not put enough money in your coffers?)

Sincerely,
Thank you for your time.
WRC

OK, except that…

a)  There is a legal argument to be made against the creation of religious-based prisons.  From my original post:

“Tax payers should never be forced to support religious indoctrination,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “This scheme is fraught with constitutional problems, and no state should subsidize it.”

“…in 2007, a federal appeals court struck down public funding of an evangelical Christian program at an Iowa prison. The Christian prison in Oklahoma, they say, would likely meet the same fate.”

b)  I have no “phobia against all things religious.”  What I do have is a strong resentment toward religion and fear tactics being used as a bludgeon to force faith-based beliefs on an entire population.  One’s spiritual beliefs should be just that – one’s own spiritual beliefs.

While I have no doubt that many find religion a positive force in their lives, there are simply too many who use it as a means to promote their own bigoted and hateful views.  Using bible verse to condemn homosexuals is a clear example of this.

As a father of three children, I believe I understand the importance of the family unit as well as you do.  Where we part ways is in your misguided and antiquated view of what the family unit should be.  As much as I suspect you despise the notion that gays, lesbians and bisexuals live on the same planet as you do, the fact is that they do.  And they are not here because of some lifestyle choice or some abomination of God’s will.  They are here because they are who they are and in so being have no need to apologize to you or anyone else.  Nor do they ask for your help in ‘curing’ them, as benevolent as your intent might be.

What you appear to be yearning for is a theocratic state based on your own Judeo-Christian beliefs…beliefs which you no doubt uphold as being superior to those of any other religion.  And if so, how does that make you any different from the Taliban or other religious fanatical group which strive to control the masses by way of religious dogma?

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