Prisons Purging Books on Faith From Libraries By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: 10 September 2007
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.
Some inmates are outraged. Two of them, a Christian and an Orthodox Jew, in a federal prison camp in upstate New York, filed a class-action lawsuit last month claiming the bureaus actions violate their rights to the free exercise of religion as guaranteed by the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Traci Billingsley, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Prisons, said the agency was acting in response to a 2004 report by the Office of the Inspector General in the Justice Department. The report recommended steps that prisons should take, in light of the Sept. 11 attacks, to avoid becoming recruiting grounds for militant Islamic and other religious groups. The bureau, an agency of the Justice Department, defended its effort, which it calls the Standardized Chapel Library Project, as a way of barring access to materials that could, in its words, discriminate, disparage, advocate violence or radicalize.
Ms. Billingsley said, We really wanted consistently available information for all religious groups to assure reliable teachings as determined by reliable subject experts.
But prison chaplains, and groups that minister to prisoners, say that an administration that put stock in religion-based approaches to social problems has effectively blocked prisoners access to religious and spiritual materials all in the name of preventing terrorism....
...
The lists are broad, but reveal eccentricities and omissions. There are nine titles by C. S. Lewis, for example, and none from the theologians Reinhold Niebuhr, Karl Barth and Cardinal Avery Dulles, and the influential pastor Robert H. Schuller....
...A chaplain who has worked more than 15 years in the prison system, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is a bureau employee, said: At some of the penitentiaries, guys have been studying and reading for 20 years, and now they are told that this material doesnt meet some kind of criteria. It doesnt make sense to them. Theyre asking, Why are our tapes being taken, why our books being taken? ...
...Otisville had a very extensive library of Jewish religious books, many of them donated, said David Zwiebel, executive vice president for government and public affairs for Agudath Israel of America, an Orthodox Jewish group. It was decimated. Three-quarters of the Jewish books were taken off the shelves.
Mr. Zwiebel asked, Since when does the government, even with the assistance of chaplains, decide which are the most basic books in terms of religious study and practice?
The lawsuit raises serious First Amendment concerns, said Douglas Laycock, a professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School, but he added that it was not a slam-dunk case.
Government does have a legitimate interest to screen out things that tend to incite violence in prisons, Mr. Laycock said. But once they say, Were going to pick 150 good books for your religion, and thats all you get, the criteria has become more than just inciting violence. Theyre picking out what is accessible religious teaching for prisoners, and the government cant do that without a compelling justification. Here the justification is, the government is too busy to look at all the books, so theyre going to make their own preferred list to save a little time, a little money.
The lists have not been made public by the bureau, but were made available to The Times by a critic of the bureaus project. In some cases, the lists indicate their authors preferences. For example, more than 80 of the 120 titles on the list for Judaism are from the same Orthodox publishing house. A Catholic scholar and an evangelical Christian scholar who looked over some of the lists were baffled at the selections....
...Prof. Larsen said...Theres a lot about it thats weird. The lists show a bias toward evangelical popularism and Calvinism, he said, and lacked materials from early Church Fathers...
...The Rev. Richard P. McBrien, professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame (who edited The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism, which did make the list), said the Catholic list had some glaring omissions, few spiritual classics and many authors he had never heard of.
I would be completely sympathetic with Catholic chaplains in federal prisons if theyre complaining that this list is inhibiting, he said, because I know they have useful books that are not on this list.
NONE OF JOSEPH RATZINGER / POPE BENEDICT XVI books are permissible, and are unavailable for prisoners to read.
Recently Our Holy Father ADDRESSED THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE TWELFTH WORLD CONGRESS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF CATHOLIC PRISON PASTORAL CARE in Castel Gandolfo, on Thursday, 06 September 2007:
_______________________________________________
Published: 10 September 2007
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.
Some inmates are outraged. Two of them, a Christian and an Orthodox Jew, in a federal prison camp in upstate New York, filed a class-action lawsuit last month claiming the bureaus actions violate their rights to the free exercise of religion as guaranteed by the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Traci Billingsley, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Prisons, said the agency was acting in response to a 2004 report by the Office of the Inspector General in the Justice Department. The report recommended steps that prisons should take, in light of the Sept. 11 attacks, to avoid becoming recruiting grounds for militant Islamic and other religious groups. The bureau, an agency of the Justice Department, defended its effort, which it calls the Standardized Chapel Library Project, as a way of barring access to materials that could, in its words, discriminate, disparage, advocate violence or radicalize.
Ms. Billingsley said, We really wanted consistently available information for all religious groups to assure reliable teachings as determined by reliable subject experts.
But prison chaplains, and groups that minister to prisoners, say that an administration that put stock in religion-based approaches to social problems has effectively blocked prisoners access to religious and spiritual materials all in the name of preventing terrorism....
...
The lists are broad, but reveal eccentricities and omissions. There are nine titles by C. S. Lewis, for example, and none from the theologians Reinhold Niebuhr, Karl Barth and Cardinal Avery Dulles, and the influential pastor Robert H. Schuller....
...A chaplain who has worked more than 15 years in the prison system, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is a bureau employee, said: At some of the penitentiaries, guys have been studying and reading for 20 years, and now they are told that this material doesnt meet some kind of criteria. It doesnt make sense to them. Theyre asking, Why are our tapes being taken, why our books being taken? ...
...Otisville had a very extensive library of Jewish religious books, many of them donated, said David Zwiebel, executive vice president for government and public affairs for Agudath Israel of America, an Orthodox Jewish group. It was decimated. Three-quarters of the Jewish books were taken off the shelves.
Mr. Zwiebel asked, Since when does the government, even with the assistance of chaplains, decide which are the most basic books in terms of religious study and practice?
The lawsuit raises serious First Amendment concerns, said Douglas Laycock, a professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School, but he added that it was not a slam-dunk case.
Government does have a legitimate interest to screen out things that tend to incite violence in prisons, Mr. Laycock said. But once they say, Were going to pick 150 good books for your religion, and thats all you get, the criteria has become more than just inciting violence. Theyre picking out what is accessible religious teaching for prisoners, and the government cant do that without a compelling justification. Here the justification is, the government is too busy to look at all the books, so theyre going to make their own preferred list to save a little time, a little money.
The lists have not been made public by the bureau, but were made available to The Times by a critic of the bureaus project. In some cases, the lists indicate their authors preferences. For example, more than 80 of the 120 titles on the list for Judaism are from the same Orthodox publishing house. A Catholic scholar and an evangelical Christian scholar who looked over some of the lists were baffled at the selections....
...Prof. Larsen said...Theres a lot about it thats weird. The lists show a bias toward evangelical popularism and Calvinism, he said, and lacked materials from early Church Fathers...
...The Rev. Richard P. McBrien, professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame (who edited The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism, which did make the list), said the Catholic list had some glaring omissions, few spiritual classics and many authors he had never heard of.
I would be completely sympathetic with Catholic chaplains in federal prisons if theyre complaining that this list is inhibiting, he said, because I know they have useful books that are not on this list.
NONE OF JOSEPH RATZINGER / POPE BENEDICT XVI books are permissible, and are unavailable for prisoners to read.
Recently Our Holy Father ADDRESSED THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE TWELFTH WORLD CONGRESS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF CATHOLIC PRISON PASTORAL CARE in Castel Gandolfo, on Thursday, 06 September 2007:
Quote:Copyright 2007 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Dear Friends,
I am pleased to welcome you as you gather in Rome for the Twelfth World Congress of the International Commission of Catholic Prison Pastoral Care. I thank your President, Doctor Christian Kuhn, for the kind words expressed on behalf of the Executive Board of the Commission.
The theme of your Congress this year, Discovering the Face of Christ in Every Prisoner (Mt 25:36), aptly portrays your ministry as a vivid encounter with the Lord. Indeed, in Christ the love of God and love of neighbour have become one, so that in the least of the brethren we find Jesus himself, and in himGod ("Deus Caritas Est," 15).
Your ministry requires much patience and perseverance. Not infrequently there are disappointments and frustrations. Strengthening the bonds that unite you with your bishops will enable you to find the support and guidance you need to raise awareness of your vital mission. Indeed, this ministry within the local Christian community will encourage others to join you in performing corporal works of mercy, thus enriching the ecclesial life of the diocese. Likewise, it will help to draw those whom you serve into the heart of the universal Church, especially through their regular participation in the celebration of the sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist (cf. "Sacramentum Caritatis," 59).
Prisoners easily can be overwhelmed by feelings of isolation, shame and rejection that threaten to shatter their hopes and aspirations for the future. Within this context, chaplains and their collaborators are called to be heralds of Gods infinite compassion and forgiveness. In cooperation with civil authorities, they are entrusted with the weighty task of helping the incarcerated rediscover a sense of purpose so that, with Gods grace, they can reform their lives, be reconciled with their families and friends, and, insofar as possible, assume the responsibilities and duties which will enable them to conduct upright and honest lives within society.
Judicial and penal institutions play a fundamental role in protecting citizens and safeguarding the common good (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2266). At the same time, they are to aid in rebuilding social relationships disrupted by the criminal act committed (cf. "Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church," 403). By their very nature, therefore, these institutions must contribute to the rehabilitation of offenders, facilitating their transition from despair to hope and from unreliability to dependability. When conditions within jails and prisons are not conducive to the process of regaining a sense of a worth and accepting its related duties, these institutions fail to achieve one of their essential ends. Public authorities must be ever vigilant in this task, eschewing any means of punishment or correction that either undermine or debase the human dignity of prisoners. In this regard, I reiterate that the prohibition against torture cannot be contravened under any circumstances (Ibid., 404).I am confident that your Congress will provide an opportunity to share your experiences of the mysterious countenance of Christ shining through the faces of the imprisoned. I encourage you in your efforts to show that face to the world as you promote greater respect for the dignity of the detained. Finally, I pray that your Congress will be an occasion for you yourselves to appreciate anew how, in attending to the needs of the imprisoned, your own eyes are opened to the marvels God does for you each day (cf. "Deus Caritas Est," 1.
With these sentiments I extend my heartfelt wishes to you and all the participants in the Congress for the success of your meeting and willingly impart my Apostolic Blessing to you and your loved ones.
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"I have a mustard- seed; and I am not afraid to use it."
[Ratzinger:"Salt of the Earth"]
May Our Papa's radiant-light continuously shine forth to illuminate Christ for the world!
[Ratzinger:"Salt of the Earth"]
May Our Papa's radiant-light continuously shine forth to illuminate Christ for the world!
