Coercive Religion in America's Prisons: Unfair Sentence. (Editorials)
A person's beliefs about religion should be irrelevant to the government.
To borrow a phrase from Thomas Jefferson, whether an American believes in 20 gods or no god is none of the state's concern. The government must never grant preferential treatment on the basis of religious belief. That is a central tenet of American life.
That is also the principle being violated in an Iowa state prison right now. At Newton Correctional Facility, inmates who agree to undergo conversion to fundamentalist Christianity through Charles W. Colson's InnerChange Freedom Initiative get benefits that, behind bars, mean a lot--greater safety, better jobs, free phone calls and bathroom …
The rest of this article is only available to active members of Questia
Sign up now for a free, 1-day trial and receive full access to:
- Questia's entire collection
- Automatic bibliography creation
- More helpful research tools like notes, citations, and highlights
- Ad-free environment
Already a member? Log in now.
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information:
Article title: Coercive Religion in America's Prisons: Unfair Sentence. (Editorials).
Contributors: Not available.
Magazine title: Church & State.
Volume: 56.
Issue: 3
Publication date: March 2003.
Page number: 14.
© 1999 Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
One moment ...
- Georgia
- Arial
- Times New Roman
- Verdana
- Courier/monospaced
Reset