More...
 

Chaplains Purge Religious Books From Prison Libraries

New York Times   |  LAURIE GOODSTEIN   |   September 10, 2007 09:46 AM

Read More: Federal Prisons, Prison Chaplains, Prison Libraries, Breaking Media News
stumbleupon :Chaplains Purge Religious Books From Prison Libraries   digg: Chaplains Purge Religious Books From Prison Libraries   reddit: Chaplains Purge Religious Books From Prison Libraries   del.icio.us: Chaplains Purge Religious Books From Prison Libraries

Behind the walls of federal prisons nationwide, chaplains have been quietly carrying out a systematic purge of religious books and materials that were once available to prisoners in chapel libraries.

The chaplains were directed by the Bureau of Prisons to clear the shelves of any books, tapes, CDs and videos that are not on a list of approved resources. In some prisons, the chaplains have recently dismantled libraries that had thousands of texts collected over decades, bought by the prisons, or donated by churches and religious groups.

Comments for this post are now closed

 
Comments
13
Pending Comments
0
iPhone App Promo

Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to

View Comments:
- Rand I'm a Fan of Rand permalink

Has anyone actually read the ARTICLE?

All religions are being restricted to the same number of volumes which, in a sense, gives an "edge" to the smaller faiths

I'm opposed to censoring religious literature but this is NOT, surprisingly, a case of Christianity uber alles

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:13 AM on 09/11/2007
- godlessclif I'm a Fan of godlessclif permalink

You can bet there are no copies of Sam Harris' letter to a Christian nation of Susy Jacoby's
Freethinkers. In Palm Beach County jails you can get a free NIV Bible , but not give prisoners a free King James. The whacko evangelicals are in charge.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:32 AM on 09/11/2007
- godlessclif I'm a Fan of godlessclif permalink

And a Koran or other religious book forget it.
Palm Beach is bigot central.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:33 AM on 09/11/2007
- Justis I'm a Fan of Justis permalink

Did you read it?

"The lists 'show a bias toward evangelical popularism and Calvinism,' he said, and lacked materials from early church fathers, liberal theologians and major Protestant denominations."

It appears the net effect is to move the Christian texts toward evangelical Christianity and cull writings on other faiths.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:14 AM on 09/11/2007
- johnnyjust I'm a Fan of johnnyjust permalink

If you're an atheist every day is no prayer day.

And every empty hilltop is a testament to what you believe.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:27 PM on 09/10/2007
- PerryClease I'm a Fan of PerryClease permalink

Hilltops? The sermon on the mount?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:26 PM on 09/10/2007
- godlessclif I'm a Fan of godlessclif permalink

What is supposed to be on hilltops? Angels dancing?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:28 AM on 09/11/2007
- Eoin45 I'm a Fan of Eoin45 permalink

I agree. That's why, when Christians say they want prayer in school, I know they mean only Christian prayer. They'd be up in arms if we said, "Okay, Monday is Christian prayer day, Tuesday is Moslem prayer day, Wednesday is Buddhist prayer day, etc." There is no objective test to prove that their religion is any more or less legitimate than any other. As an Atheist I'd like a no prayer day too.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:22 PM on 09/10/2007
- protagonia I'm a Fan of protagonia permalink

Wipe out the competition?

It's the way the mafia does things.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:10 PM on 09/10/2007
- MyNameIsVictoriaWinters I'm a Fan of MyNameIsVictoriaWinters permalink

The 'No God but Our God' approach , right?

Christians say that they take the high-road but isnt this the same thing that the Muslims do?


    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:49 AM on 09/10/2007
- Eoin45 I'm a Fan of Eoin45 permalink

I agree. That's why, when Christians say they want prayer in school, I know they mean only Christian prayer. They'd be up in arms if we said, "Okay, Monday is Christian prayer day, Tuesday is Moslem prayer day, Wednesday is Buddhist prayer day, etc." There is no objective test to prove that their religion is any more or less legitimate than any other. As an Atheist I'd like a no prayer day too.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:18 PM on 09/10/2007
- Captain EdwardGraham I'm a Fan of Captain EdwardGraham permalink



What books would JESUS purge?



    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:35 AM on 09/11/2007
Comments are closed for this entry

You must be logged in to reply to this comment. Log in  or  Connect