Wow. That's perfect! That's absolutely brilliant. I see that's a Spong quote. Never heard that before. I love it!Religion is like a swimming pool. All of the noise comes from the shallow end.
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Wow. That's perfect! That's absolutely brilliant. I see that's a Spong quote. Never heard that before. I love it!Religion is like a swimming pool. All of the noise comes from the shallow end.
Wow. That's perfect! That's absolutely brilliant. I see that's a Spong quote. Never heard that before. I love it!
Why am I not the least bit surprised?Petty
I just added it to my signature line!Yeah, I love that he said it.
All I know is if you take religion out of that picture unfortunately there would remain many misinformed people. So the bad religion is insignificant reallyYou can find good people in all sorts of bad religious systems. That doesn't make the system healthy for you? Good people drink bad water all the time. Should you drink bad water too, because good people are drinking it?
Many seek/find religion once in prison. Whether its temporary or not, the stats don't show how many weren't religious before they went to prison.
If the stats are going to be used to reflect a large % of prisoners are religious. It should also reflect how many/what % weren't religious before going to prison.
Its not a very accurate stat for what % of religious people go to prison.
A lot of people go through dramatic religious changes in prison.Therefore to say many seek religion in prison... is just guesswork
It's the only stats we have. If/when others become available we can be more authoritative.
Not guess work. I already provided you a link to people that seek/find religion while in prison.Therefore to say many seek religion in prison... is just guesswork
It's the only stats we have. If/when others become available we can be more authoritative.
Not guess work. I already provided you a link to people that seek/find religion while in prison.
Jailhouse Jesus - Wikipedia
How so? Misinformed spiritually? If the religious system is spiritually bankrupt and divisive, then people are in fact better off without it. If those people are being told that evil is good, then they are misinformed. When Jesus speaks of the blind leading the blind, he is talking about bad religion.All I know is if you take religion out of that picture unfortunately there would remain many misinformed people. So the bad religion is insignificant really
Ok
I don't usually take Wikipedia as evidence, anyone can edit the pages. So i go to the references and check. I see no figures, only anecdotal and historical links. And several "citation needed " notes.
I've no doubt you have a point and some prisoners can take up or renew religion after conviction. I just dont see it making much difference to the stats.
Conclusion
- Religious persons and religious institutions have long been associated with correctional practice. This influence began prior to the invention of the prison, continued with the development of a correctional philosophy aimed at repentance, and more recently serves to assist inmates who try to practice their faith while incarcerated. Prison Chaplains have always served as the main conduit through which religion is delivered at correctional facilities. Chaplains and other ‘faith representatives’ are currently employed in all correctional facilities and they serve a variety of functions. In the United States, the ability to practice ones religion. even for those who are incarcerated, is supported by state and federal laws, however, this right must not interfere with the security of the institution. Religious practice is no longer only in the form of the Judeo-Christian experience in American prisons. A variety of faith groups are now present in many institutions, each with their own form of religious practice.
Although it is difficult to judge why an inmate becomes involved with religion, it is apparently for a variety of personal and practical reasons. The common belief held by many, including by some who live and work in correctional facilities, is that inmates “find religion” for manipulative reasons. Although this may be the case in some instances, there is evidence that some inmates have been changed for the better due to their incarceration and religious practice.
Based on my experience, a great big bunch of them view it as a new start.Although it is difficult to judge why an inmate becomes involved with religion, it is apparently for a variety of personal and practical reasons. The common belief held by many, including by some who live and work in correctional facilities, is that inmates “find religion” for manipulative reasons. Although this may be the case in some instances, there is evidence that some inmates have been changed for the better due to their incarceration and religious practice.
For me I think it was a combination of #1 and forging my own spiritual path.
I would say that for me 1. was how it started. It never sat right with me that homosexuality or other LGBT stuff was evil... I'd known people that were in committed, healthy marriages (17 years strong), and nothing about that seemed wrong to me. The concept of that sin didn't jive with me.
Other sins and behaviors of god in the bible bothered me to the point where I couldn't just ignore them anymore, so I sought answers to my questions. I began testing the bible's historicity and logicality, and then I discovered contradictions and other things that had no explanation outside of the bible being man made (as far as I was concerned)... I became convinced that even though god was real, and good, the bible didn't reflect god as the good and loving being I had come to know him as.
With that, I began to explore other religions that also portrayed a merciful and loving monotheistic god. I became a seeker and sought after this idea of god.
As time went on, I questioned my own idea of who god was, and whether or not god even existed, or whether or not god would even be good given the way nature would reflect his character. After finding no clear answer, I became an agnostic and explored other god concepts such as polytheism and pantheism. They weren't really for me, though, as they left me with the same questions my previous encounters with religions had left me.
Eventually, I couldn't really find anything that could convince me that an actual god even existed, and I no longer really felt the need to follow or pursue gods, so I dropped religion altogether. Oddly enough, I've picked up some of my pagan practices because I feel that I dropped them before fully exploring them, so I still do things like runecrafting from time to time just for fun.
I may join a different religion in the future, but if I do it will be on my terms rather than in seeking any kind of god. I can't see any ideas of god being convincing enough for me to become theistic anytime soon, but we'll see! I still try keeping an open mind about things.
I'm going well thanks. Give my regards to Aunty and family.Hi Daniel. How are you? My best regards to your family and dad.
I'm going well thanks. Give my regards to Aunty and family.