“Why not require a chaplain to provide spiritual
services for all religions? Because it becomes an exchange that lacks
authenticity and the facts needed for inner transformation. The Christian can
only point to Jesus and forgiveness – deeply offensive to people in other
traditions and utter nonsense to humanists”. (Dueck, 2012)
Firstly, how could a Christian chaplain
teach another faith when the Christian chaplain has only been trained to teach
Christian teachings? He is not qualified to teach other faiths. Similar to when
we are in university we expect our professors to be trained in the discipline
that we are learning, otherwise it just does not work.
What the government
wants to do with prison chaplains I think is wrong and smells of racism.
As a taxpayer I would want to see that the government provides services
for all inmates, no matter what race or religion they happen to be. I
understand that the men and women who are incarcerated have done something
wrong by breaking the law, but they are still all human, have human
feelings and they have rights. By removing all other religions leaders
and only offering a Christian cleric for the inmates, regardless of the
inmate’s religious beliefs, is, in my view wrong and discriminatory toward
other races/religions.
If we had a Social
Democratic government in power this kind of thing would not be happening. I say
this for two reasons: 1)Social Democratic governments balance the interests of
different groups in society ensuring that no group becomes dominant, 2) absence
of a ruling class or group. (Mullaly, 2007) By not
providing specific religious counselling to all religious groups, the
government is not balancing the interests of different groups thereby making
Christians dominant in this case.
Dueck , L. (2012, Oct 12). One-size prison
chaplains don't fit all. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/one-size-prison-chaplains-dont-fit-all/article4607354/
Mullaly, B. (2007). The new structural social
work. (Third Edition ed., pp. 114-136). Don Mills, On: Oxford University
Press.
By: Jeff
By: Jeff
I definitely think that other religions should be considered when looking at spirituality in prisons. Our correction centres are supposed to provide basic services to inmates that they would be able to receive had they not been incarcerated (a point which some disagree). I definitely think that since religion plays a big part in some peoples' lives, it should be something they can access, and not have to default on a religion that is so far from their own. A major point too, would be that in Canada, most inmates are First Nations, so making Catholicism the only readily accessible religion is unacceptable. It's basically repeating what happened in residential schools with the "you will only learn this religion" mentality. This also has to do with the fact that our penal system was founded on the British system, and Catholic views played a big part in decision making.
ReplyDeleteMany times spiritual help and guidance helps to reduce recidivism and helps the healing process for both the victim and the offender. If the proper tools are not in place in order for one to begin rehabilitation, we are still looking at the pre-1800's idea that prison is only for retribution and not rehabilitation. I definitely agree with you that this is racist and discriminatory.
Shannon
I think that there should be a large demand in prisons worldwide to provide different religion teachings and prayer to the inmates. One main goal of imprisoning someone who has done wrong in society is to resocialize them. Everyone is socialized by the religion we choose to follow. If there is only one religion to learn from and act based upon, there leaves a lot of room for disagreement with the religion, which may cause a prisoner to feel controlled and lash out on the people associated with this religion. I think that prisoners are controlled enough living in a prison (which they should be), however I think since we are all human beings, we all deserve the free choice to what religion we wish to follow and pray with.
ReplyDeleteLindsay
Great blog Jeff! I agree with you, inmates are still human beings and should get the respect a human being deserves. According to the Census of the 2012 Annuario Pontificio (Pontifical Yearbook), the number of Roman Catholics of the world is about 1.196 billion at the end of 2010. 1.196 billion is alot, but we need to realize that there are other religions as well and many other people that do not acquire the 1.196 billion.
ReplyDelete- Alyssa