by Karen Williams
Inmates in New Jersey State Prison and students from Princeton University clashed in battle this month -- on chess boards. A New York Times article describes the "cultural exchange program" that gives men in New Jersey's maximum security facility the chance to compete against some of the brightest brains in the country. In a recent competition, a dozen inmates prevailed.
Their wins shouldn't be shocking. But before I visited a prison, I would not have anticipated those victories. Until I interacted with inmates, I carried the subconscious assumption that they were somehow less than human. That creative intelligence does not exist behind bars. That inmates lose awareness of time and space, making life in the same place with the same routine in the same group of people, for decades, a bearable, seemingly brief experience. Prisoners, in my mind, were like fish in an aquarium.
Talking, listening, and laughing with inmates opened my eyes to their full humanity. I finally understood that being in prison does not extinguish the image of God in a person. God infused our natures with the capacity and craving to explore, to learn, to understand, to develop, to move, to subdue. When a person enters prison, these attributes endure. Only now they are confined to a prison cell and a prison yard. Prisoners live through their sentences -- not hibernate.
I'm definitely not saying that we should tear down our prisons. Justice and safety demand punishment for crime. But I am arguing that we should do all we can to help inmates celebrate their humanity -- and direct their God-given attributes towards righteousness. We should visit, engage, and teach. Solid academic research even indicates these things dramatically improve public safety by equipping offenders to avoid criminal behavior.
A chess victory may seem trivial. But it points to the divine spark that no shackle can extinguish.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Post Election Statement On Abortion
Post Election Statement on Abortion
You will recall that I mentioned in previous posts that the bishops spent some time on Monday and a good amount of time yesterday working with Francis Cardinal George, our President, on drafting a statement from the Cardinal in light of the recent election. This morning Cardinal George presented his statement to us. I will attempt to type his entire statement below (keep in mind that my less than nimble fingers are attempting to retype this somewhat long but excellent statement:)
“If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do its builders labor; if the Lord does not watch over the city, in vain does the watchman keep vigil.” (Psalm 127:1)
The Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States welcome this moment of historical transition and look forward to working with President-elect Obama and the members of the new Congress for the common good of all. Because of the Church’s history and the scope of her ministries in this country, we want to continue our work for economic justice and opportunity for all; our efforts to reform laws around immigration and the situation of the undocumented; our provision of better education and adequate health care for all, especially for women and children; our desire to safeguard religious freedom and foster peace at home and abroad. The Church is intent on doing good and will continue to cooperate gladly with the government and all others working for these goods.
The fundamental good is life itself, a gift from God and our parents. A good state protects the lives of all. Legal protection for those members of the human family waiting to be born in this country was removed when the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade in 1973. This was bad law. The danger the Bishops see in this moment is that a bad court decision will be enshrined in bad legislation that is more radical than the 1973 Supreme Court decision itself.
In the last Congress, a Freedom of Choice Act [FOCA] was introduced that would, if brought forward in the same form today, outlaw any “interference” in providing abortion at will. It would deprive the American people in all fifty states of the freedom they now have to enact modest restraints and regulations on the abortion industry. FOCA would coerce all Americans into subsidizing and promoting abortion with their tax dollars. It would counteract any and all sincere efforts by government and others of good will to reduce the number of abortions in our country.
Parental notification and informed consent precautions would be outlawed, as would laws banning procedures such as partial-birth abortion and protecting infants born alive after a failed abortion. Abortion clinics would be deregulated. The Hyde Amendment restricting the federal funding of abortions would be abrogated. FOCA would have lethal consequences for prenatal human life.
FOCA would have an equally destructive effect on the freedom of conscience of doctors, nurses and health care workers whose personal convictions do not permit them to cooperate in the private killing of unborn children. It would threaten Catholic health care institutions and Catholic Charities. It would be an evil law that would further divide our country, and the Church should be intent on opposing evil.
On this issue, the legal protection of the unborn, the bishops are of one mind with Catholics and others of good will. They are also pastors who have listened to women whose lives has been diminished because they believed they had no choice but to abort a baby. Abortion is a medical procedure that kills, and the psychological and spiritual consequences are written in the sorrow and depression of many women and men. The bishops are single-minded because they are, first of all, single-hearted.
The recent election was principally decided out of concern for the economy, for the loss of jobs and homes and financial security for families, here and around the world. If the election is misinterpreted ideologically as a referendum on abortion, the unity desired by President-elect Obama and all Americans at this moment of crisis will be impossible to achieve. Abortion kills not only unborn children; it destroys constitutional order and the common good, which is assured only when the life of every human being is legally protected. Aggressively pro-abortion policies, legislation and executive orders will permanently alienate tens of millions of Americans and would be seen by many as an attack on the free exercise of their religion.
This statement is written at the request and direction of all the Bishops, who also want to thank all those in politics who work with good will to protect the lives of the most vulnerable among us. Those in public life do so, sometimes, at the cost of great sacrifice to themselves and their families; and we are grateful. We express again our great desire to work with all those who cherish the common good of our nation. The common good is not the sum total of individual interests; it is achieved in the working out of a common life based upon good reason and good will for all.
Our prayers accompany President-elect Obama and his family and those who are cooperating with him to assure a smooth transition in government. Many issues demands immediate attention on the part of our elected watchman. May God bless him and our country.
So ends the statement of Cardinal George. Of this much I am sure, I shall not be retyping long statements until this blog provides me with the ability to cut and paste and conduct a spell check (currently unavailable to me).
I am proud of this statement and it perfectly reflects my own feelings and hopes at this moment in our nation’s history. During the election, the President-elect never deviated from his main message: “Change and hope.” I pray that he will not change the nation’s present approach to abortion-on-request to something far worse and I hope that he will understand that there are many of us out here who hold deep religious and conscience convictions on this important issue. I hope that he will surprise and not disappoint. I pray that he will lead and not be led by those intent on the destruction of human life. Our nation needs to be united not further fractured.
This final afternoon will be spent in prayer, adoration, and reconciliation. At 6:15pm I begin my return to my beloved diocese on AMTRAK’S “Silver Meteor” and perhaps somewhere around Richmond at 10pm tonight, I will tell you more about the meeting and my train ride. There will be little that is “meteoric” in my return.
From: Bishop Robert Lynch, St. Petersburg, FL
You will recall that I mentioned in previous posts that the bishops spent some time on Monday and a good amount of time yesterday working with Francis Cardinal George, our President, on drafting a statement from the Cardinal in light of the recent election. This morning Cardinal George presented his statement to us. I will attempt to type his entire statement below (keep in mind that my less than nimble fingers are attempting to retype this somewhat long but excellent statement:)
“If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do its builders labor; if the Lord does not watch over the city, in vain does the watchman keep vigil.” (Psalm 127:1)
The Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States welcome this moment of historical transition and look forward to working with President-elect Obama and the members of the new Congress for the common good of all. Because of the Church’s history and the scope of her ministries in this country, we want to continue our work for economic justice and opportunity for all; our efforts to reform laws around immigration and the situation of the undocumented; our provision of better education and adequate health care for all, especially for women and children; our desire to safeguard religious freedom and foster peace at home and abroad. The Church is intent on doing good and will continue to cooperate gladly with the government and all others working for these goods.
The fundamental good is life itself, a gift from God and our parents. A good state protects the lives of all. Legal protection for those members of the human family waiting to be born in this country was removed when the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade in 1973. This was bad law. The danger the Bishops see in this moment is that a bad court decision will be enshrined in bad legislation that is more radical than the 1973 Supreme Court decision itself.
In the last Congress, a Freedom of Choice Act [FOCA] was introduced that would, if brought forward in the same form today, outlaw any “interference” in providing abortion at will. It would deprive the American people in all fifty states of the freedom they now have to enact modest restraints and regulations on the abortion industry. FOCA would coerce all Americans into subsidizing and promoting abortion with their tax dollars. It would counteract any and all sincere efforts by government and others of good will to reduce the number of abortions in our country.
Parental notification and informed consent precautions would be outlawed, as would laws banning procedures such as partial-birth abortion and protecting infants born alive after a failed abortion. Abortion clinics would be deregulated. The Hyde Amendment restricting the federal funding of abortions would be abrogated. FOCA would have lethal consequences for prenatal human life.
FOCA would have an equally destructive effect on the freedom of conscience of doctors, nurses and health care workers whose personal convictions do not permit them to cooperate in the private killing of unborn children. It would threaten Catholic health care institutions and Catholic Charities. It would be an evil law that would further divide our country, and the Church should be intent on opposing evil.
On this issue, the legal protection of the unborn, the bishops are of one mind with Catholics and others of good will. They are also pastors who have listened to women whose lives has been diminished because they believed they had no choice but to abort a baby. Abortion is a medical procedure that kills, and the psychological and spiritual consequences are written in the sorrow and depression of many women and men. The bishops are single-minded because they are, first of all, single-hearted.
The recent election was principally decided out of concern for the economy, for the loss of jobs and homes and financial security for families, here and around the world. If the election is misinterpreted ideologically as a referendum on abortion, the unity desired by President-elect Obama and all Americans at this moment of crisis will be impossible to achieve. Abortion kills not only unborn children; it destroys constitutional order and the common good, which is assured only when the life of every human being is legally protected. Aggressively pro-abortion policies, legislation and executive orders will permanently alienate tens of millions of Americans and would be seen by many as an attack on the free exercise of their religion.
This statement is written at the request and direction of all the Bishops, who also want to thank all those in politics who work with good will to protect the lives of the most vulnerable among us. Those in public life do so, sometimes, at the cost of great sacrifice to themselves and their families; and we are grateful. We express again our great desire to work with all those who cherish the common good of our nation. The common good is not the sum total of individual interests; it is achieved in the working out of a common life based upon good reason and good will for all.
Our prayers accompany President-elect Obama and his family and those who are cooperating with him to assure a smooth transition in government. Many issues demands immediate attention on the part of our elected watchman. May God bless him and our country.
So ends the statement of Cardinal George. Of this much I am sure, I shall not be retyping long statements until this blog provides me with the ability to cut and paste and conduct a spell check (currently unavailable to me).
I am proud of this statement and it perfectly reflects my own feelings and hopes at this moment in our nation’s history. During the election, the President-elect never deviated from his main message: “Change and hope.” I pray that he will not change the nation’s present approach to abortion-on-request to something far worse and I hope that he will understand that there are many of us out here who hold deep religious and conscience convictions on this important issue. I hope that he will surprise and not disappoint. I pray that he will lead and not be led by those intent on the destruction of human life. Our nation needs to be united not further fractured.
This final afternoon will be spent in prayer, adoration, and reconciliation. At 6:15pm I begin my return to my beloved diocese on AMTRAK’S “Silver Meteor” and perhaps somewhere around Richmond at 10pm tonight, I will tell you more about the meeting and my train ride. There will be little that is “meteoric” in my return.
From: Bishop Robert Lynch, St. Petersburg, FL
Monday, November 10, 2008
Talk To Me
I just read an interesting article on BreakPoint that mentions our lack of conversation. Our lack of good conversation. I want to talk to someone! I want to talk about Jesus, the Church, the enviroment, politics, social change, family values, poets, books.... Where have I been. I want to hear people talk about today's issues and cultures. My computer has silenced me.
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