[quote]angry chicken wrote:
Regarding the whole Prison = Revenge, Torture vs. Treatment debate up there, I offer something for your consideration: PENITENTIARY. That’s the place where the “bad guys” go right? The root of the word is Penance, so it is “a place to seek penance” or forgiveness. The word gained popularity about 500 years ago. The word, “prison” is far older. So this progression from Prison to Penitentiary reflects an evolution of sorts in our society and culture. It lends a shade of compassion - even though it’s ever so slight, it is there nonetheless. That is a GOOD thing.
Churchill is often credited for saying that one can judge how civilized a society is by the way it treats it’s prisoners, it’s poor and the most disadvantaged members of said society. How does the United States measure up?
Having BEEN through the prison system in the United States I feel that I am qualified to answer. It is PATHETIC. Most people come out worse than the went in. And once you get out you have ZERO options for any kind of reasonable employment. It fails to address ANY of the issues that CAUSED the problem to begin with (whether it be addiction, abuse, abandonment, etc…) and it gives NO support to those individuals who lack education or are illiterate (there are non-profit organizations and inmate run programs who do this, but our gov’t does not). I could go on and on describing the inhumane aspects of prison that I, and most other prisoners, have endured, but I’ll spare the details. Suffice it to say that our system is BROKEN.
The fact is, people can change. Then can evolve. I am living proof. For those of you that are so judgmental to believe that every mistake deserves an “eye for an eye” or “lock them up and throw away the key”, I PITY you. Your ignorance for the potential that EVERY human caries along with your naivety to believe you are somehow superior instead of recognizing that EVERY human has the capacity for “wrongdoing” given certain circumstance, will limit your ability to truly experience the full spectrum of humanity that is your birthright and will forever condemn you to the small, narrow world view of “right and wrong”. It’s all your weak, little mind can conceive, so as I said before, I PITY YOU.
Would a society be better served if people that broke the law were punished, put through hell and when finally released, disadvantaged to the point that they had no options (other than to return to criminal behavior)? OR would it be more prudent to understand the root of the incident, TREAT the problem, exercise a little compassion and forgiveness (you know, all that shit EVERY religion teaches? The HUMANE action?) and provide options for the person that would seriously reduce the instance (and the cost) of a repeat offense?
Let’s pretend we’re all “civilized” for a moment and ask our “higher self” what the more evolved choice would be.
/rant
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I know you’ll want to say it, but I’ll say it for you, “We know you’re Catholic, fuck!”
But the idea of prison came from Purgatory and Limbo of the Fathers, where those that died were held before Jesus was crucified, or as the Jews hold are still held today. It was a place of purging and purification and physical pain, a place to finish your penance before you were free.
I agree with you on the idea of word penitentiary come from penance.
I also agree on the idea of helping those in prison, while they are IN prison and when they are OUT of prison. And, as well, help those most likely to go to prison BEFORE they go to prison.