Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Nelson on November 3, 2009 at 4:39pm

unbelievable. there's just no way this passes the establishment clause.

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Permalink Reply by Dave G on November 4, 2009 at 9:41am

They claim to have checked and say it is legal, but judging from the article, it's just the legality of only hiring employees of the 'proper' faith. The fact that they would (literally) have captive audience that the state would be forcing to undergo religious proselytization is sure to fail the Establishment clause.

Of course, if someone were to build an all-Islam prison, where everything was Allah-centric, these same people's complaints could be heard on Mars.

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Permalink Reply by Stacy B on November 4, 2009 at 6:21pm

If I understand correctly it is a private prison and inmates have to volunteer to go there. If it is, in fact, a religious organization then they can even hire employees of a certain belief. It's exact nature could be up to debate, however, which could raise questions of discrimination. My concern would be tax dollars funding a religious organization, but the government contracts with religious organizations sometimes, as in the LAPD Explorers program that has a thread around here somewhere. I'm not sure about tax dollars directly funding the promotion of religion like this prison would, but we do fund abstinence only sex ed. which we all know is religious with brochures and whatnot coming from religious orgs.

At first glance I can't find anything illegal about it, but there are certainly gray areas and I'm not a lawyer.

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Permalink Reply by Dave G on November 4, 2009 at 7:47pm

If the inmates have to volunteer to go there, that would remove one of the more serious obstacles.

A religious organization can only hire members of their faith, but if they are taking money from the government it get complicated. Moreso than it used to be, before Bush's administration began their faith-based initiative and exemptions allowing religions to discriminate in hiring were added in.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew on November 4, 2009 at 8:00pm

The govt does stuff like this frequently and it got even worse as Dave G mentioned with GB and his faith based shit. The Boy Scouts are federal funded in that they can use some federal land and building for $1 in rent and other incentives, but if your gay or athiest dont even think about joining or your kid.

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Permalink Reply by Reggie on November 4, 2009 at 11:22pm

We need atheist prison guards at this prison.

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Permalink Reply by Reggie on November 3, 2009 at 6:41pm

That is some harsh punishment.

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Permalink Reply by Misty: Baytheist Living! on November 4, 2009 at 5:48am

This seems to be one of those things that need a letter writing campaign.

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Permalink Reply by Johnny on November 4, 2009 at 4:58pm

PZ: "At first glance, I thought this story was good news: Oklahoma is going to build a Christian prison! About time, I thought, I can think of a few Christians who deserve a few years for faith-abuse. But no…it's a prison to be administered by Christians to give Christian criminals special privileges. Not quite as appropriate, but more in line with what we've gotten used to from our dominant faith tradition."

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Permalink Reply by Reggie on November 4, 2009 at 9:15pm

But if they are in prison, then are they not true Christians? Or can you be a true Christian before and after a crime and only lose the designation for the moment that you are making God cry?

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Permalink Reply by Reggie on November 4, 2009 at 9:18pm

Ahhhhh.

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Permalink Reply by Nelson on November 4, 2009 at 9:19pm

your pastor reads from a list of offenses and you respond with "guilty" or "not guilty" to each one! :D

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