One can find violence in many places in society....
...what to say if a simple element could be found that could moderate....even erase violence?
1. "For years Angola was the bloodiest prison in the country. In 1951, to protest the brutal conditions, 31 prisoners sliced their Achilles tendons so they couldn't be sent to work. In 1995 - the year Burl Cain became the warden - there were 799 reported inmate attacks, and another 192 attacks on guards. "It was bad," Cain said. "We had murders, we had attacks, we had suicides, and it was all because of a lack of hope."
2. ... to restore hope for men who had little to look forward to, Cain instituted a number of programs and clubs ...aimed at helping the prisoners develop skills and interests.
3. But Cain, a man of strong religious beliefs, believed faith-based programs and what he calls moral rehabilitation were the best answer... the prison reached out to the Baptist seminary.
a. At Angola, God has been finding men regularly. So far about 150 of them have earned Bachelor of Arts degrees from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and another 100 are on track to graduate.
4. Prisoners for the course are selected on a number of criteria, prison officials said. Religious affiliation is not one of them, Cain said. He points out that a Muslim prisoner completed the course and received his degree.
a. The American Civil Liberties Union has gone to court several times over religious matters at Angola, but the seminary program is not one of them. "We are certainly not opposed to the offering of educational opportunities,'" said Marjorie Esman, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana. "The problem is if it is limited to a specific group."
5. Graduates of the seminary now officiate at the prison's 18 inmate churches and also do one-on-one ministry and grief counseling. The prison has 23 graduates of the seminary who act as missionaries in ... prisons in Louisiana.
6. The program costs about $50,000 a year, Cain said. It is financed by the seminary, the Louisiana Baptist Convention and private donations. At Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, Miss., there 75 students enrolled and 35 have already graduated from the associate degree program. At Georgia State Prison the first associate degrees were awarded in December.
a. "We made mistakes and we ended up here," said ... a New Jersey man serving a life sentence at Angola for aggravated kidnapping. "But our lives haven't ended. We can still do some good in this world."
7. Jerome Derricks says he heard God's call early. He only wishes he'd answered sooner. By the time he did, he was serving a life sentence for ... "I ran from my calling all my life," said Derricks, 44. "But I like to put it like this: God finds people wherever they go."
8. ... the Baptist seminary has begun similar ones in the Mississippi and Georgia prisons. Angola and seminary officials believe they are the only full-time, college-accredited programs for ministers in the nation's prisons.
Such programs are not tracked overall in state prisons. Federal prisons have nothing comparable, a spokeswoman said." Angola prison in La. offers ministry degree to inmates
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-anAwVOZ0I]Angola Seminary a Model for Divine Hope Seminary Part 1 - YouTube[/ame]
Prayer was banned in school in 1962.
This was done at the behest of KKK enthusiast and anti-religion fanatic Justice Hugo Black.
Anyone know what has happened to the incidence of violence in schools since 1962?
...what to say if a simple element could be found that could moderate....even erase violence?
1. "For years Angola was the bloodiest prison in the country. In 1951, to protest the brutal conditions, 31 prisoners sliced their Achilles tendons so they couldn't be sent to work. In 1995 - the year Burl Cain became the warden - there were 799 reported inmate attacks, and another 192 attacks on guards. "It was bad," Cain said. "We had murders, we had attacks, we had suicides, and it was all because of a lack of hope."
2. ... to restore hope for men who had little to look forward to, Cain instituted a number of programs and clubs ...aimed at helping the prisoners develop skills and interests.
3. But Cain, a man of strong religious beliefs, believed faith-based programs and what he calls moral rehabilitation were the best answer... the prison reached out to the Baptist seminary.
a. At Angola, God has been finding men regularly. So far about 150 of them have earned Bachelor of Arts degrees from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and another 100 are on track to graduate.
4. Prisoners for the course are selected on a number of criteria, prison officials said. Religious affiliation is not one of them, Cain said. He points out that a Muslim prisoner completed the course and received his degree.
a. The American Civil Liberties Union has gone to court several times over religious matters at Angola, but the seminary program is not one of them. "We are certainly not opposed to the offering of educational opportunities,'" said Marjorie Esman, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana. "The problem is if it is limited to a specific group."
5. Graduates of the seminary now officiate at the prison's 18 inmate churches and also do one-on-one ministry and grief counseling. The prison has 23 graduates of the seminary who act as missionaries in ... prisons in Louisiana.
6. The program costs about $50,000 a year, Cain said. It is financed by the seminary, the Louisiana Baptist Convention and private donations. At Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, Miss., there 75 students enrolled and 35 have already graduated from the associate degree program. At Georgia State Prison the first associate degrees were awarded in December.
a. "We made mistakes and we ended up here," said ... a New Jersey man serving a life sentence at Angola for aggravated kidnapping. "But our lives haven't ended. We can still do some good in this world."
7. Jerome Derricks says he heard God's call early. He only wishes he'd answered sooner. By the time he did, he was serving a life sentence for ... "I ran from my calling all my life," said Derricks, 44. "But I like to put it like this: God finds people wherever they go."
8. ... the Baptist seminary has begun similar ones in the Mississippi and Georgia prisons. Angola and seminary officials believe they are the only full-time, college-accredited programs for ministers in the nation's prisons.
Such programs are not tracked overall in state prisons. Federal prisons have nothing comparable, a spokeswoman said." Angola prison in La. offers ministry degree to inmates
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-anAwVOZ0I]Angola Seminary a Model for Divine Hope Seminary Part 1 - YouTube[/ame]
Prayer was banned in school in 1962.
This was done at the behest of KKK enthusiast and anti-religion fanatic Justice Hugo Black.
Anyone know what has happened to the incidence of violence in schools since 1962?
