US Jails Ban Religious Books To Combat “Terror” Fears
Jails in the US have begun a long overdue post-9/11 federal directive to remove all religious texts from their library shelves. The directive, which is intended to “prevent radical religious texts,” specifically seeks to stop Islamic books from being read by violent inmates.
In terms of absurdity, this is right up there with the testimony of Alberto Gonzales. First off, keeping the books out of the hands of “violent inmates,” aren’t prisoners there in the first place because they have acted violently? Secondly, religious books such as the Bible, Torah and Quran primarily preach messages of peace, so to dub them as radical religious texts is absolutely preposterous. Such texts can be a vital part of prisoner rehabilitation, as they are used to minister to new inmates upon arrival.
“The set of books that have been taken out have been ones that we used to minister to new converts when they come in here,” inmate John Okon, speaking on behalf of the prison’s Christian population.
Inmates at the Otisville, New Jersey federal prison camp have filed a lawsuit, claiming that their constitutional rights have been violated. Every religion was targeted.
I for one find this beyond ridiculous. Is this really a crackdown on radical Islam, or is it just another attempt by the government to slowly erode the freedoms enjoyed by Americans, freedom of religion in this case? Obviously efforts at combating Muslim extremists would be better spent overseas, so why the need to go after American citizens?
4 Comments, Comment or Ping
Erika Strum
This is an absurd waste of time and resources and it absolutely strips the prisoners of their constitutional rights.
Jun 11th, 2007
Emmanuel Moyana
Well this is exactly where the world is going - governement deciding how man worships God. The threat of terror has so far seen many Americans loosing their liberties in the name of security. Slowly and surely government is encroaching on religion. Many governments around the world especially those who are guilty of human rights violations will begin to do the same justfying represion on the basis that America is doing the same. Those who are familiar with history understand that this has happened before. As it used to be during the dark ages, so shall it be again in the near future - government shall so restrict individual freedoms such that even how people worship shall be decided by civil and judiciary authorities. Many Americans today feel safe under their constitution that gurantees the separation of “Church and State.” Experience ofcourse has already shown that in a natianal crises such as 9/11, people are willing to accept laws that resistrict personal freedom in exchange for security. Eg the Patriot Act which was passed in just 45 days!.Americans accepted the law without opposition. The law increased the ability of law enforcement agencies to search telephone and email communications and medical, financial, and other records among other provisons. I bet before 9/11 this law would never have seen the light of day. What guarantee that if another attack occurs, the consititution will not be tempered with to remove the clauses that bar the legislator from enacting laws governing the practice of religion.
Jun 12th, 2007
Jon Holato
@ Emmanuel Moyana - that’s a good observation, the American public really will give up anything in exchange for a little “safety” when they’re afraid. I don’t know if the US would ever come to regulating religion, especially Christianity because the evangelical lobby in this country is massive, but I for one know that they will never be able to dictate to me how I may or may not worship.
Jun 22nd, 2007
Emmanuel Moyana
I hope and pray that the US government does not. But you see Jon, Christianity might suffer through Islamophobia. What affects one affects all. Laws that can be passed to deal with Islam for example could end up affecting all religions including Christianity unless such laws specifically target Islam. The later seems unlikely. You would agree with me that there is a lot of Islamophobia in the US and in many Western countries these days. Indeed many in the Islamic community invite this on themsleves through some inflamatory statements they make. This is the excuse the US needs to come up with repressive legislation and who knows Christianity itself could get affected. I am not saying that Christainity would be the chief target in such a scenario, but the need for absolute power as demonstrated by the Bush administration so far and, who knows, maybe by worse administrations in the future could see religion and Christianity being regulated.
Jun 26th, 2007
Reply to “US Jails Ban Religious Books To Combat “Terror” Fears”