WHY DO PRISONERS DISCOVER "RELIGION"?

by Mary 21 Replies latest jw friends

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  stevenyc

  The guilty wish to be cleansed.

  steve.
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  stillajwexelder

  There is an inborn desire in many humans to confess their sins and be reconciled to God. Also in prison you have a lot of time on your hands and so reading the bible etc is something to do
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  the_classicist

  I think that someone who truly finds religion in prison would want to serve their whole term instead of wanting to be released. Y'know that whole justice thing.
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  bebu

  I think the reason many prisoners "discover" religion is that there is so much time to reflect... and some of them have real consciences that start to kick in (finally). If they know they are guilty, there is that cognitive dissonance they deal with in some form. Sometimes its by denial, sometimes it's by justification, and sometimes they really do admit they 'done wrong'; they want to purge themselves of guilt (as mentioned).

  I fully agree that conversion (to any religion) is not grounds for clemency or pardon or early parole. They must always play by whatever rules others must follow-- by behavior, not by talking "religiously". I think a great many conversions are not genuine.

  I think Tucker's conversion was real. Though she did ask for her sentence to be converted to life in prison, she was denied; and I think she handled that denial properly. It is interesting that even the prosecutors felt she was genuinely different... But her fate was not hers to call; she had already given up that right.

  bebu
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  Mary

  I think Tucker's conversion was real. Though she did ask for her sentence to be converted to life in prison, she was denied; and I think she handled that denial properly.

  I have to respectfully disagree about Karla Fay Tucker's conversion being genuine. My take on her and others like Jeffrey Dalmer is this: they commit horrific crimes and are caught, and sentenced to either life in prison or death. The whole world is disgusted with them. They've been condemned. In true human fashion, they want an absolution for what they've done. They know it does no good to tell the prison guard "Gee I'm sorry I got caught", because it's not going to get them the absolution that they're looking for. So as a last resort, they turn to God, because the bible says if you "believe in the Lord Jesus, you will be saved". According to Christian theology, there is no sin that God will not forgive you for, except the sinning agains the Holy Spirit. In other words, here's a way you can be absolved of the horrible crime you committed: just accept Jesus as your Savior and bibbity-bobbity-boo, God has completely and utterly forgiven you for committing torture and murder against your fellow humans and will promise you a place in heaven!

  With the whole world condemning you, you become more focused on Ja-E-sus absolving you of your crime, even when the courts won't. You need to show them that you have indeed changed and to that end you become a model prisoner, praising God at every opportune moment.

  To me, none of these conversions are truly genuine---they're all based on emotion. Faced with the prospect of death, these criminals desperately turn to anything that will get them off the hook. The latest fiasco of a serial rapist-turn-Jehovah's-Witness-in-prison and then re-offended when he got out on parole, clearly shows that these people do not change---it's all just a show.
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  HappyDad

  DY said........

  Never ever believe a prisoner has changed while still in prison. Let them serve their sentence for their crimes, then, if they still have time left, then they can show us all they've changed.

  In 1976 the WT one hundred year anniversary was held here in Pittsburgh and the Civic Arena. At that time there were several JW conversions at the prison here.

  Well one of the JW's to be was allowed to go to the program under the watchful eye of several brothers. I remember that he only had about a year or so to go on his sentence and the prison officials felt that he was not a risk.

  One of the brothers assigned to accompany him at all times (even to the restroom) was a friend of mine from the KH I went to at the time. During the course of the program the guy had to use the restroom and they took him there. By the way.......the guy had a suit on and blended right in!

  As the brothers waited at the rr door (they were pretty big restrooms with in and out doors if I remember right) they waited and waited. hehe.......the guy disapeared and never did show up again. It was on all the news for days after and it affected all other prisoners getting day passes for outstanding behavior. The ones guarding him were questioned interrogated many times afterward to see if one of them helped the guy escape. My friend refused to talk about it to any of us as he was very embarresed.

  As far as I know, the guy has never been found to this day 29 years later.

  So much for jailhouse conversions.

  HappyDad
  
  
  
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  Will Power

  In 1976 the WT one hundred year anniversary was held here in Pittsburgh and the Civic Arena.

  Do you mean they were celebrating the anniversary of the BIRTH of their religion? 100 years? thought it was started 2000 yrs ago, and that birth celebrations were evil?

  Selfish bastards.

  I love those walking suits LOL
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  HappyDad

  Do you mean they were celebrating the anniversary of the BIRTH of their religion? 100 years? thought it was started 2000 yrs ago, and that birth celebrations were evil?

  Selfish bastards.

  Willpower..........

  Yeah.....it's ironic that they celebrated the birthday of the WT but we weren't allowed to celebrate ours. But they called it an anniversary so that is different. Yeah..right!

  HappyDad
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  Amazing1914

  Some use the time to think, and when exposed to religious material, will convert and accept their situation. If released, I believe that they will be reformed citizens. On the other hand, all too many feign conversion to augment their parole hearings. If and when they get released, they return to crime. Jail house conversions have to be treated with suspecion, but it does happen. Jim W.
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  CoonDawg

  I too am skeptical of jailhouse conversions. My first wife had a cousin in the klink for some drug charges. She started "witnessing" to him and he professed interest. She was tickled to death, though I quickly got tired of her accepting collect calls from the jail all the time. Eventually, he was going to get out and come to the hall with us, blah blah blah....she gave him money repeatedly through this process for "incidentals" in jail. The minute he got out, after being a good "god fearing" convict....he skipped the part where he was supposed to have a joyful reunion with those of us he'd leaned on in jail. Within 7 days, he was rushed to the hospital a victim of an overdose....never looking back, ended right back in jail for his parole violations.

  I also knew another JW who'd been convicted of brutally murdering an old lady and robbing her home, then trying to cover it up by burning the mobile home she'd lived in. In his jailhouse conversion, the only good to come of it, because he was going to get the needle, was his confession to a prior unsolved murder to "give the family peace".

  Sure there may be some genuine conversions, but I think that they are the proverbial needle in the haystack. I'm just saying...keep a healthy does of cynicism when considering these things.

  Ern