A US prison bans all books – except The Bible

Originally posted by Becoming
reply to post by Savorrow

 

Its a county jail, not a prison.

The Bible isn't a bad story unless you start reading it already hating it.

Yes it is a County Jail, the typical length of time for people staying in a county jail is a year or less. It is noted that in a lot of middle eastern prisons/jails they only allow the Q'raun.

reply to post by dwmjr1985


Um thanks for the middle eastern prison trivia.

Don't know what it has to do with this county jail, but its good to know.

reply to post by dwmjr1985


my opinion....... hmmm.

i have no problem with it. but i do think a part of what leads alot of people there is lack of education among other things. i think it is good to get rid of things that are considered a form of entertainment like magazines etc they are trash and contain nothing that could have a positive effect, but they could of included more books than just the bible that would educate them in a postitive way.

it makes sense to me, wanna pass the time then you can read a book, but the book you read will educate you about your ways and responsibilites. there are surely more books than the bible that could do that.

reply to post by dwmjr1985


That is what makes us different than other countries!

For anyone that's ever been in jail or prison the worst part about it is, your confinement. It's not the crappy food they feed you. It's not that Bubba might decide to take a liking to your manly hood. It's not the guards acting like a-holes. The punishment is in confining the individual. Denying the individual of harmless ways of keeping himself/herself occupied is detrimental to the jail environment and probably causes more behavior problems as a result. This warden needs a swift kick in the pants and because of his ridiculous rules, he just may get it from an inmate.

reply to post by dwmjr1985


reading a good thing imo this is just some power crazy nutcases turning the srews cause they can.
bad enough the Americans already have the largest prison population in the world fact its 80% black is extra sick when you consider their victims of a CIA run drug cartel.

really though Obama would change all that but its only gotten worst ofcourse if I knew then he was bushes cousin I might of seen it coming.

reply to post by lokdog


Yeah! Cause Christians never kill anyone.

Smirk

Originally posted by HenryPatrick
this is disgusting...most people that are incarcerated are there for nonviolent and victimless crimes, which should not even be crimes at all...ive been caught in the fascist system before, and without books to pass the time i would have literally lost my mind...if you think that this is ok, you should think about doing the world a favor and giving yourself an extra hole in the head...

agreed 100%. Without books, I would've be using like alot of other guys.

and with all the pro-marijuana/potheads on this site, aka potential inmates, I'd think they'd be a little sympathetic.

typically ATS hypocrisy at work though...

Hmm... a county jail for inmates serving less than a year incarceration.

So basically we're talking about 18 year old Johnny who got caught with a joint in his pocket at a Rob Zombie concert.

Hmm...

Yup, deny the little reprobate godless heathen any access whatsoever to the outside world other than the true spoken word. That'll teach 'em.

Next thing ya know, Mr. Warden will be cutting off all visitation from loved ones too... because, afterall, the little devil worshippers are in there for punishment, not entertainment !

Guantanamo for all chocolate bar stealing thieves, I say !!

Just the Christian Bible?

Really?

One nation under god...and all that? One nation, under god, indivisible...?
Except you have to have the right god, otherwise you are marginalized....
So...One Nation, under MY GOD, divisible when it suits me, cos MY GOD is better than yours, and the Godless can go to he**......
Divisive.

"So long as you read about MY deity, and the Bronze age stories in this book, you'll be okay and probably will never commit another crime" is that what they are thinking?

"YOUR deity, or lack of deity means nothing to me, because my beliefs are better than yours."
"MY deity is better than YOUR deity."

A German prison bans all books - except for Mein Kampf.
Would you be offended?

A US prison bans all books - except for the Koran.
Would you be offended?

A US prison bans all books - except for the Torah.
Would you be offended?

A US prison bans all books - except for Lord of the Rings.
Would you be offended?

Intolerance is a crime against humanity.
Religious intolerance is the worst crime against humanity.
The Pilgrims landing at Plymouth were escaping religious persecution. They thought they were finding somewhere to practice their faith without intolerance. They were not setting up a 'Christian' nation. That they were a sect of Christianity isn't the point at all. They were escaping intolerance for their brand. That they practiced intolerance based on their religion should not be the foundation for any patriotism, or any sort of 'victory' for so-called Christians.

We should afford the same tolerance to all faiths/non-faiths.

Allowing only the Christian Bible is intolerant of all other beliefs. I'd wager than any Christians that were allowed only the book of another religion would not be so thrilled.

Any "Christian" who supports this is a perfect example of Mahatma Ghandi's line: "I like your Christ. I don't like your Christians - they are so unlike your Christ."

They can't let people have a bible in school but they can have one in prison? I wonder why that is? Anybody know?

Originally posted by HenryPatrick
this is disgusting...most people that are incarcerated are there for nonviolent and victimless crimes, which should not even be crimes at all...ive been caught in the fascist system before, and without books to pass the time i would have literally lost my mind...if you think that this is ok, you should think about doing the world a favor and giving yourself an extra hole in the head...

So people shouldn't go to jail or even be punished for stealing? Give me an example of a victimless crime that shouldn't be a crime because I really want to know. Also you can't say drug usage, there are plenty of victims there ask anyone on the border.

I don't think just allowing Bibles in prison is a good idea. Leaves too much free time with not much to do. Granted, maybe 5-10 % utilizes general library, and another 20-25% utilizes the law library. So at best, 30% of the population is utilizing these services, but that is 30% of the population that are occupying their mind and time with reading and staying out of trouble.

Add to that another 15-20% that are serious in their religious pursuits, and we have just eliminated 50% of the population from being trouble makers. Adding in the folks that make trustee status, or get assigned to community work squads, now we are pushing a total of say 70% of the population actively involved in pursuits that they enjoy and do not want to lose these privileges.

So, you want to take the books out of your jails/prisons, go ahead. I prefer one with 70% of the population occupied with good pursuits, vs one with 60% with nothing to do but think of ways to cause and get involved in trouble. Just my opinion.

If someone is incarcerated for committing a crime, they should deal with the punishment.

All of the faults of our prison system aside, inmates are there to serve a sentence, not to read books or fill in free time because it's boring.

If anything they should be grateful they have anything at all to read. If you want to have a "choice" on reading material, don't f#ck up - it's that simple.

Originally posted by lestweforget
Most prisoners that find Christ once incarcerated become model prisoners, alternatively quite the opposite can be said for those who convert to islam. In my part of the world there currently exists an organized recruiting plan to boost numbers and therefore strength within our prisons. I would ban the quran only.

this is clearly your opinion. do you have a single fact to back up this wildly inflammatory and inaccurate statement? cons who convert to xtianity are model prisoners while those who convert to islam are... what? terrorists? go back to watching fox news, reality may be too complex for you to grasp. also, since this recruiting plan is so organized it should be a simple matter to identify those involved and bring up criminal charges. which neck of the woods are you in? which members of the recruitment drive would you be able to pick out of a line up?

i think the bible should give these prisoners some entertaining, light reading. take their mind off their current situation. i always get a good laugh out of that satirical work of fiction!

but why ban other books? what good will it do? does it help rehab the prisoners? or just make their punishment a little bit worse, thus entertaining the sadists in charge?

reply to post by Konah


prison removes them from society so that they cannot commit further crimes. while there, we only hope that they will spend time thinking about why what they did was wrong. there isn't a single thing in there to encourage them to become better people. oh wait, except for BOOKS. if an inmate spends all of his time lifting weights and trading cigs for shivs, he will come out a more effective criminal. if an inmate spends all of his time with his nose in a book, he will come out a nerd. so if you don't give a crap about the members of our society sitting in jail, and you want them to be uneducated animals when they come out, then go ahead and take their books away. i'm sure they won't find anything in the bible to encourage or justify any violent or uncivilized behavior.

I'm fine with it, if all I get is crappy outdated magazines at the tire shop and the doctors office then they should be stuck reading something too. Even though the bible is all that is available to these people they still have a choice of whether or not to read it. So I dont see any issue, it's not like we are taping their eyelids open with genesis in front of them and jerry fallwell screaming at them on a loud speaker. It's an OPTION to read a book. I have never wasted such an option, and who knows, maybe it will do them some good. The bible isnt all bad people and lots of good has come of it, even if there has been some bad.

reply to post by RicoMarston


Honestly, if someone is rightfully in jail they do not deserve to be given books with taxpayer money so they might improve themselves.

If they want something to read, give them the option to work and earn a little cash, then buy the books.

I think jail time is for punishment but it is also a time to learn to send that negative energy in something positive. May it be sports, training, reading, music, arts, philosophy...

Leaving only the bible will not allow EVERYONE to send their energy in the right place.
I have read the bible and there is a lot of good, but to only read that is swallowing your spirit and decision making.

Psychology books, yeah that should be banned, those people who wrote it are probably crazier then most inmates :p

As a person who does believe that rehabilitation is possible, I think that prison SHOULD be punishment. It shouldn't be a place of entertainment. Imo inmates that have rehabilitated have done so because they have a desire to better themselves and not make the same bad choices that led them to be in prison to start with. Prisons should have a merit based system that allows certain entertainments based on educational and vocational programs. If an inmate can prove that they want to make things better for themselves not just in prison, but outside as well, then they can read for entertainment. I know that I would do whatever I had to in order to read my favorite novels.