Should Federal prisons ban religious books from library jails?

No

7 of 32

by Matthew Waters

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Over the years, we have seen more and more restrictions placed on religion in public places. I can't say that I completely disagree with this since religion is supposed to be separated from government and I do believe that making a person swear on a bible in order to testify violates their right to choose their religion, or lack of, freely. Banning religious books from prison libraries, however, is taking this the concept of separation of church and state too far.

First of all, taking religious texts out of prison libraries unreasonably restricts a prisoners ability to study their religion. This limits a right that is protected by the constitution. While prisoners are restricted, in order to protect society, restricting their ability to study their religion, or other religions, is an unnecessary restriction.

Second, religion can be, and has been, an important tool in the rehabilitation of some criminals. Religious study has changed the lives of drug users, alcoholics, violent offenders and other criminals. Taking religious texts out of prisons unreasonably and unnecessarily takes away this useful means of rehabilitation.

While I support the separation of church and state, I can see no good reason to ban religious texts from prison libraries. Religious texts can provide moral and ethical support to prisoners that can help their rehabilitation and allow them to develop better lives upon release. As a society, we have accepted the duty to rehabilitate our inmates and we cannot deny them access to a means to accomplish this. Some may argue that having religious texts in prison libraries violates the rights of inmates to choose their religion or choose to live without religion, however, the inmates have the right to ignore these materials as they choose. Separation of church and state is designed to protect peoples right to choose and practice their religion without having another religion forced on them by the government. Having religious texts in prison libraries, however, does not force religion on anyone, but instead, allows inmates an opportunity to find a new religion or develop their own and provides them a means of support and rehabilitation. As the crime rate in America increases, we cannot afford to take away anything that could be used by prisoners to assist their rehabilitation, including religious texts.

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