Ever since the monkeyboy who talks to god plunged us into the dark ages, we all have been living in a Christian prison.

You can convert and then we will throw away the key or kill you, or you can convert on the waterboard and then we will throw away the key or kill you.... - The GITMO inquisition?..... I wonder?????

I've heard Court-Ordered Mandatory State rehab programs (which are run by sub-contractors with the identical powers of detention and charging additional violations) are running Christian groups inside these facilities. They show up with religious T-shirts and the message is clear: Don't object to the state mandating and financing religious conversion, OR ELSE.

We're already sliding down a slippery slope here.

TJ

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson

Somehow, this is way not right.
Certainly a violation of the establishment clause.
But it should never even come to that. This should scare the bejesiz out of Christians, 'cuz if there can be a Christian prison, there can be a Muslim one. And an avowed Atheist one, too. And while we're at it, How about a Druid prison? And a Confucian one....
The image that sticks in my mind is (I believe) a Degas painting of the torture chamber of the Spanish Inquisition (which, of course, NOBODY EXPECTED).

I know parents who spout such bullshit to their kids: "This is for your own good, You will thank me for this when you grow up, You have to learn that life is full of unpleasant rules, You wouldn't be happy if I didn't make your life miserable."

All said with a straight face. When the kids can't figure out what is sense and what is nonsense, then those same parents wonder why.

Life is tough enough without confusing kids to the point of disorientation. Most people reach old age before they figure out that most of what they believe was a lie told to them when they too young to question the authority figure preaching nonsense.

They used to pull that crap on us when I was in the Navy.

We had weekly chaplain's lectures when I was in school at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. The rabbi and the priest held informative, liberal and sometimes funny discussions. Then along came the evangelical Southern Baptist.

At that time, "Chaplain's Flag" was enforced every Sunday morning, meaning a barracks patrol forced all off-duty personnel out of our bunks. They couldn't force us to church, but they wouldn't let us sleep. So someone asked the Baptist Chaplain if compulsory "Chaplains Flag" observance conflicted with the Constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.

Aghast at the very idea, the Chaplian explained, "If we did not have Chaplains Flag we would be DENYING you your religious freedom!" (An accurate quote - too outrageous to forget.)

Next question: "Well, Lieutenant, what about the guys who observe the Sabbath on Saturday?" At which point the chaplain abruptly concluded the lecture, promising to "pick this up next time". Terrorized by us infidels, he never came back.
*****
So that racket in Wakita, OK is only a new approach to an old tactic. The Navy just did it for mind control -- I suspect Wakita's prison is also set up to funnel a few bucks into some well-positioned pockets. Torquemada would approve.

Christians are some of the most blood thirsty people on the planet, historically speaking.

My fellow Common Dreamers are showing their ignorance of early American history.

The idea that imprisonment should be a religious experience goes all the way back to Dr. Benjamin Rush, founding father, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and considered the father of American Psychiatry.

It is enshrined in the very term "penitentary" meaning a place where one went to become a penetent, convicted of and repentent from his sin rather than merely being one who was being punished for his crime.

But the devil is always in the details. If done correctly this could be a useful approach towards rehabilitation rather than just confinement. If done wrong it could easily become a coercive kind of brainwashing and opperant conditioning nightmare. Conversion is not the same as coercion and those running and evaluating this approach need to always keep that in mind.

For those who damn the very idea that religous experinece has any place in prison, I would point out that under the tutiledge of the Muslims, small time street punk Malcolm Little matured into the gifted teacher and transitional figure of Malcolm X and transformed many lives of African Americans for the better.

Who's to know if there isn't another Martin Luther King Jr. or Cesar Chavez just waiting to be activated for the betterment of others by such a program?

Poet

Hey, look on the positive side. This new prison, run by a cult of religious nut cases, will probably deter crime, as being sent to Wakita would be worse than death! Can you imagine the sheer torture of having to listen these wacko, christian,fascists 24/7!

It is not altogether surprising that this ludicrous idea has emanated from Oklahoma, which is one of the most conservative states in the USA.

This story reminds me of the recent flap in Hardin, Montana, when a flim-flammer showed up like the second coming of Erik Prince to privatize local law enforcement. It turned out to be more or less a fluke.

It would be interesting to get a reaction from Team Obama, which supports the "faith-based social services" concept as enthusiastically as it supports all of the OTHER Absolutely Horrible ideas from the previous maladministration.

It would outrage me, though not surprise me, if Team Obama expressed support for the concept. Appropriately qualified, of course.

· Yr Obd't Servant

Well, we needed SOMEPLACE to put the Christians, and Guantanamo was full of Muslims.

Wow.

"What we have he-yah is a failyah to excommunicate!

"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats

A new version of "The Magdalene Sisters", but paid for by the taxpayers. Is this legal? It should not be.

It is one thing to provide for religious observance in a prison, another thing to impose a particular interpretation of a particular sect. But it does fit the definition of punishment, to ram phony cash-motivated religion down the throats of a captive audience, literally. If you forgive another movie reference, think about the warden in "Shawshank Redemption".

The only good thing is that there will be less fiscal incentive to go after Muslims :).

Joe