Nbadan
05-31-2005, 03:54 PM
LONDON, Ky. -- A Kentucky judge has been offering some drug and alcohol offenders the option of attending worship services instead of going to jail or rehab _ a practice some say violates the separation of church and state.
District Judge Michael Caperton, 50, a devout Christian, said his goal is to "help people and their families."
"I don't think there's a church-state issue, because it's not mandatory and I say worship services instead of church," he said.
...
David Friedman, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, said the option raises "serious constitutional problems."
"The judge is saying that those willing to go to worship services can avoid jail in the same way that those who decline to go cannot," Friedman said. "That strays from government neutrality towards religion."
Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/31/AR2005053100439.html)
I wonder if convicted sexual predators go to Divinity School?
What's interesting is that this idea is psychologically appropriate. As far back as Jung and the Oxford Group, psychologists have recognized that religion is one of the few ways to fill the void left by an addiction. In other words, "finding God" is effective at easing the transition off addiction, because many of the same qualities of addiction are mirrored in religion. Probably why so many ex-addicts in jail become born-agains?
This sentencing idea, as far as I can tell, is not much different from court-ordered Alcoholics Anonymous or similar 12-step treatment programs, which require as a first step the acceptance/acknowledgement of a higher being.
District Judge Michael Caperton, 50, a devout Christian, said his goal is to "help people and their families."
"I don't think there's a church-state issue, because it's not mandatory and I say worship services instead of church," he said.
...
David Friedman, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, said the option raises "serious constitutional problems."
"The judge is saying that those willing to go to worship services can avoid jail in the same way that those who decline to go cannot," Friedman said. "That strays from government neutrality towards religion."
Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/31/AR2005053100439.html)
I wonder if convicted sexual predators go to Divinity School?
What's interesting is that this idea is psychologically appropriate. As far back as Jung and the Oxford Group, psychologists have recognized that religion is one of the few ways to fill the void left by an addiction. In other words, "finding God" is effective at easing the transition off addiction, because many of the same qualities of addiction are mirrored in religion. Probably why so many ex-addicts in jail become born-agains?
This sentencing idea, as far as I can tell, is not much different from court-ordered Alcoholics Anonymous or similar 12-step treatment programs, which require as a first step the acceptance/acknowledgement of a higher being.