FaithBeto
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FaithBeto
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What is
CPM?
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What is CPM? CPM (or Christian Prison Ministries) is the coordinator of cooperating ministries that have been allowed to operate a faith-based wing at the George Beto Maximum Security Prison. We are also blessed by the prayers and support of people like you and many businesses and organizations. (See "Who is involved?" for more information and links about these wonderful caring organizations.) CPM
(or Christian Prison Ministries) is a mission to bring the love of God
to the lost souls in prison. The concept is quite simple. We all need
and are capable of receiving the love of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t
matter what we have done, or not done. It does not matter our race, our
intelligence, or even our religion.
The
reason it doesn’t matter is because the gift of God’s love
is not earned or deserved. It’s not given as a birthright, or a
reward. It is not in the hands of man or society. It is the sole
prerogative of God to offer and the person to accept God’s love
and grace. It is only our duty to make sure that in our own feeble way,
we can try and bring a little of God’s light into dark places and
help the lost find the light and let God and the person decide if they
will choose to accept the gift.
Faith-based Prison Programs Texas is expanding its faith-based rehabilitation centers by adding four centers into existing prison units.
Michelle Lyons, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said a total of 334 beds — 198 at the 3,332-bed Beto unit in Tennessee Colony, 56 at the 1,570-bed Terrell Unit in Rosharon, 50 beds at the 1,900-bed Hutchins State Jail outside Dallas and 30 beds at the 1,800-bed Darrington Unit in Rosharon — will be set aside during the next two months for religious programming. Source: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/02/08/8prisons.html
CPM is involved with this initiative in that it is expanding its already existing part-time presence at the George Beto Unit into a full-time program complete with counseling, education, and job-training. Casey Miner (casey@faithbeto.org) will be the volunteer coordinator. (See: Who is involved?) CPM is NOT part of the State Department of Corrections and is NOT provided with any government funding. All funding and resources provided to the Christian Prison Ministries at the George Beto unit are private gifts from people like you. (See: How you can help?) Criticisms Prisoners are in there because they are bad people and have done horrible things. They deserve to be punished. It’s true that in some cases some truly terrible crimes were committed. We are in no way trying to remove the sentences given in a court of law. However, while it is society’s right and duty to protect its members and to deliver justice in a codified manner to lawbreakers, it is not our right to withhold God’s love from anyone. In actuality, it is our duty to be the hands and feet of God, to provide the message of his grace for all. This is our main purpose. There are also practical secular reasons as described in Why should you care. Isn’t this a violation of the separation of Church and State? When discussing rights and divisions of influence it’s always a grey area. Where does this person’s rights begin and that person’s end? We have seen what can happen in places like Iran when a particular religious faction controls the government and Communist China where religion is feared and not really tolerated. In the United States we always try to walk a tight-rope between competing rights and interest. Some will say that by allowing us to talk about God and Jesus Christ that we are violating the rights of other religions and atheist. Others will argue that by not allowing us to talk about God is depriving us and those inmates that want to hear what we have to say their First Amendment speech rights. Both sides can make convincing arguments that gradually drift away from the central facts and get bogged down in theoretical generalities that obscure the issue. These are the facts. CPM does not receive any direct state funding. There are supplies and resources that are provided that would be provided anyway such as housing for the inmates, guards, food, and so on. The CPM is a volunteer organization that is trying to help the inmates, families, and society by helping the paroled and freed to rid themselves of the problems that caused their incarceration in the first place, whether that be drug addiction, anger, hopelessness, or a misguided sense of what being a man in this society means. No one is forced to attend the program. There is no denomination or even religious creed restrictions to participating. Theoretically, someone that practice Satanism could be accepted into the program if he met the requirements. And there are requirements, such as active participation, no violence, and so forth. There is also talk about God because frankly that is who we are and what we know that helps. Not talking about God for us would be like not speaking in English. Isn’t this just religious brainwashing? Who is this helping other than the religious right? Why is the state allowing these groups to operate? First of all, we are not the religious right… or left… or even center. We have as an organization no political affiliation. Our volunteers belong to many different churches and organizations. They have their own political attitudes and affiliations just like the people at your place of work do. But the CPM has no political agenda. We are a Christian organization. We are hoping to help the brothers-in-white while they are at the George Beto Unit, and helping them and their families when they are released. Later, we hope this effort helps society by reducing recidivism, creating stronger and more secure communities, and stopping the cycle of crime and violence that has us as a society building more prisons every year. Why is this program and others like it allowed? It's allowed and encouraged for one reason - because it works. (See Why you should care for more information.) The simple truth is that most of the programs tried do not work. In the famous quote attributed to both Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” It's time to stop the insanity! Faith-based programs have proven their worth. That is why they are being expanded. Other programs that don’t work are being abandoned. Should other new programs still be tried? Absolutely, not everyone will respond to this type of program. As a caring and responsible civilization we should try to do everything we can to help. Why can't we just use the secular method to reduce recidivism? We are not opposed to any methods that will help. We are in crisis. Our nation is hurting. We need anything and everything that will work. This is why we're so surprised at the criticism of the faith-based programs. We absolutly know that it will not help everyone, but it will help many that can't be reached any other way. Here is a little history that explains the experience of the prison system. Robert Martison a criminologist in 1974 published "What Works, Questions and Answers About Prison Reform." Martison studied 231 of these programs. He concluded that none of them worked. Not education, psychotherapy, or anything else. It became known as the "nothing works doctrine." This view gradually became the prevalent view. By 1989, the U.S. had all but given up on rehabilitation in prisons. In Mistretta v. the United States, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on federal sentencing guidelines which essentially ended the discussion of rehabilitation as a legitimate goal for the prison system. Source: Dallas Observer, April 26-May 2, 2007 "Jesus in the Jailhouse"
Giving up is not the answer. Let's do what works and keep searching for other methods as well. |