Jesus or Jail?

theyre only required to show up for mass essentially. so more like 2 hours a week. tops. I can assure you, I could easily commit a misdemeanor if the only punishment was ignoring a preacher for a couple hours.

edited 27th Sep '11 5:40:45 PM by Midgetsnowman

No body's saying you couldn't, but it's still a better choice, at least in my opinion, than throwing everyone in prison or fining them, which only influences them to get into more trouble.

I'm not worried about it. The separation of church and state zealots will have it struck down soon enough...

I just think the better option would be community service for all misdemeanors

edited 27th Sep '11 5:50:35 PM by Midgetsnowman

snowman@It would be punishment to send them to brimstone and fire preachers or you wouldn't want to do it because of your own bad memories.

edited 27th Sep '11 5:53:20 PM by joyflower

Providing they have secular options I'm okay with in.

It is clearly and blatantly unconstitutional.

It fails all three prongs of the Lemon test, by my reckoning. Certainly it fails the second.

If the choice is "go to church or else we'll throw you in prison" it's pretty clear that it violates the Establishment Clause, right? The only reason it seems confusing is the extra crime you have to commit to be put in the situation in the first place.

No one complains when many are converted to Islam in jail so why not people in jail espically those who have a Christian past have a chance to seek Jesus.

edited 27th Sep '11 7:32:46 PM by joyflower

The reason nobody has a problem with jailhouse conversions to Islam is because it's OTHER PRISONERS that convert prisoners to Islam.

Seriously, I'm cool with keeping minor offenders out of jail, conversion attempts aren't the way to go about it though. I would lol if the Alabama Freethought Association volunteered to "assist" the churches, asking for time with the convicts in exchange for supporting them against charges of First Amendment violation. It'd be a "balanced approach".

I really just....

no words.

Seriously, just make the option for their selection of community service (real community service that interacts with the community, not just dropping them on 2 AM road cleaning), and include religious outlets for said along with everything else.

This isn't hard, Alabama.

They should try this in France.

Then they'll see real secularism at work.

Is that sarcasm?

"If you see a nation that is 75 percent christian, you will call it a Christian Nation. And if you see a nation that is 75 percent muslim, you will call it a Muslim nation. And if you see a nation that is 75 percent Secular, you will say 'Oh look, it's France.'"

Seriously though, this is a really stupid idea. While I would love to see criminals get the opportunity to go to church, there is no way of judging whether they are actually going to change or not. On top of that, just because someone becomes a christian doesn't mean that they give up sinning immediatly. Also there's that whole matter of being unconstitutional, and such.

Couldn't this really be exploited, easily?

Why don't we set up the "First International Church of Crime". This way, if anyone in Alabama gets convicted, we can take them in and plan are next big heist.

Yeah I can see it being abused by people. "I just need to pretend to be faithful for 52 days? FUCK YEAH."

And this is why they should be forced to do backbreaking and soulbreaking amounts of community service along with going to church if they pick this option.

I honestly do see this as a case of establishment. If there was a general program of alternative to jail with good behavior, which we already do (parole with probation), then that's workable.

If anything I blame the Founding Fathers, many Christians, being contradictory by insisting on an amendment providing no establishment while assuming that their faith will remain unopposed.

Well, the South always have a problem separating church and state.

This is not so bad. Read This : http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/07/burl-cain-angola-prison

-thread hop- Of course, only assuming you're Christian. I'm not sure I could do it. I hate lying about religious matters. Sooner jail than losing my integrity.

QFT.

edited 28th Sep '11 1:08:40 AM by Sakan4k

I'd choose prison; going to a church every Sunday to listen to stuff that goes against my morals and worldview is painful.

Or we could just not throw people in prison for non-violent crimes. Just a thought.

So did I get this right?

I rob a store. I get caught. I am allowed to choose between jail, community service or going once a week to church?

AKA I walk free as long I go to sleep in church every sunday.

What sort of insane breed of logic is that!?

Non-violent offenders shouldn't have go to to jail.

What if the offender is a Seventh-Day Adventist, do they show up to church on a Sunday even if no one is really there? This is a pertinent question.

edited 28th Sep '11 2:08:00 AM by Tiph

In the south the very notion of not throwing misdemeanor offenders into an electric chair wouldnt even occur to them.