Looking back over the last three decades, the religious right movement has had some notable, high-profile leaders, many of whom have enjoyed considerable national prominence. Figures like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, though widely loathed by the American mainstream, became household names as the influence of conservative evangelicals grew.
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Chuck Colson never enjoyed quite as much notoriety as his televangelist brethren, but when it came to the larger movement, the former Nixon aide who died over the weekend was every bit the religious right powerhouse.
Charles W. Colson, who as a political saboteur for President Richard M. Nixon masterminded some of the dirty tricks that led to the president's downfall, then emerged from prison to become an important evangelical leader, saying he had been "born again," died on Saturday. He was 80. [...]
Mr. Colson was sent to prison after pleading guilty to obstructing justice in one of the criminal plots that undid the Nixon administration. After having what he called his religious awakening behind bars, he spent much of the rest of his life ministering to prisoners, preaching the Gospels and forging a coalition of Republican politicians, evangelical church leaders and Roman Catholic conservatives that has had a pronounced influence on American politics.
As a young player in the Nixon White House, Colson was praised for his "instinct for the political jugular" and "vying for favor on Nixon's dark side," but after his release from prison, Colson created a religious right group call Prison Fellowship Ministries, which he parlayed into celebrity status among evangelical conservatives.
Though ostensibly focused on preaching to inmates, Colson and his group gained considerable influence in the larger religious right effort, eventually becoming a popular speaker at far-right events and getting his own syndicated radio show.
But it was the George W. Bush era that made Colson an even more notable figure. After Gov. Jeb Bush (R) restored Colson's rights to practice law and vote, the Republican president looked at his prison ministries as a great example of the Bush "faith-based" initiative working in real life.
The problem was, Colson's efforts didn't work quite as well as he'd led others to believe.
My friend (and former colleague) Rob Boston wrote a piece several years ago on the ways in which Colson's programs were in conflict with the separation of church and state -- when the government uses tax dollars to convert inmates to evangelical Christianity, there's a problem -- and By Mark A.R. Kleiman, before his blogging career, found that the efficacy of the prison efforts didn't match the hype.
You don't have to believe in faith-healing to think that an intensive 16-month program, with post-release follow-up, run by deeply caring people might be the occasion for some inmates to turn their lives around. The report seemed to present liberal secularists with an unpleasant choice: Would you rather have people "saved" by Colson, or would you rather have them commit more crimes and go back to prison?
But when you look carefully at the Penn study, it's clear that the program didn't work. The InnerChange participants did somewhat worse than the controls: They were slightly more likely to be rearrested and noticeably more likely (24 percent versus 20 percent) to be reimprisoned. If faith is, as Paul told the Hebrews, the evidence of things not seen, then InnerChange is an opportunity to cultivate faith; we certainly haven't seen any results.
This didn't undermine Colson's status as a religious right heavyweight, and he remained an influential voice until his recent ailments, working to "pull together a united front of right-wing religious orthodoxy" against modernity and church-state separation.
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You're right, there is a "problem" - first it's the separation of church & state -why is it that when the "Christian church and their affiliates" are sucking on "government money" via the taxpayer it's alright - but if say "the government" starts talking about say "contraception availability" then it's BIG guber'mint over-reach! Maybe it's me, but isn't there just a bit of hypocrisy in there?! Second "studies" may show NO more of a recidivism rate for inmates, but for the reich as long as Colson said he was "born again" that's all right for the sheeple!
The study makes intuitive sense. Some cons might have too much integrity to use a phony religious conversion as a ticket out of jail.
The ones with integrity are more likely to go straight - wouldn't you suppose?
Call me paranoid, but I was always suspicious of Colson's conversion, and the erstwhile "opportunities" to recruit sociopaths that his prison ministries presented.
Yeah, paranoid. I know. But those dirty tricksters and plumbers went far beyond anything that most of us could have imagined.
So let's entertain the freakish conspiracy. How easy would it be to carefully cull from the prison ministry believers a select few who will be happy to become operatives for things that everyone wants plausible deniability for, on the outside? Break-ins? Ballot-stuffing? Hacking e-voting?
What better place to convert and recruit?
Forgive me if Colson's conversion was genuine, but he was affiliated with the more Machiavellian side of the Religious Right, after all. Loose principles in service of a ends-justify-the-means crass philosophy that basically has a be-all end as "Will to Power."
Some conversions I just couldn't bring myself to trust.
Convert and recieve an early parole so you can...
You ain't paranoid you're just a heathen that sees these programs for what they are-a desperate attempt to expand phony religion.
If you were truly paranoid you would have flipped over the Bush administration handing the military over to radical evangelists.
When I was teaching at the Oregon State Penitentiary, the inmates called it "programming." They would participate in programs like Colson's because it looked good on their records when it came time for a parole hearing. Not to say all of them were cynical, but most were.
In other words, xianity causes crime. Q.E.D.
While the idea of being born again may give lots of comfort to many, it seems that enough claiming to be born again are in fact, reprogrammed into narrow-minded clones for the GOP. Without charity, grace and acceptance where is the Christianity? I wonder how hot it is where Mr. Colson resides now.
Even if this program was run by well-intentioned people of faith (and I have no evidence one way or another,) there's a problem central to many versions of born-again practices. Many rely on a cathartic emotional experience that doesn't translate into changing thought patterns. Maybe it actually reinforces bad practices. "I can sin all week, but on Sunday I can admit I've been a sinner, I'll get total reinforcement from my peers, I'll get a huge cathartic release, and on Monday I'll start the cycle all over again." It's like a drug, and drug addiction is kind of incompatible with a healthy life.
I work in a prison and as far as I can tell , religious ministry is pretty much a waste of air, especially when I hear the things the inmates say about the ministers behind their backs.
Colson simply traded political amorality for religious intolerance.
Are you sure he traded in his political amorality?
True repentence means working to undo the damage you've caused. I'd have a lot more admiration for Colson if, after his prison conversion (and I have no reason to doubt it was sincere), he had worked for a cleaner politics. Less influence of big-money contributors, more accountability for public officials, higher standards of ethics, that kind of thing.
Instead he worked to expand Republican political power, which for decades (uninterrupted by Watergate) has relied heavily on the influence of big-money contributors (too many to name), avoiding accountability for public officials (anyone remember Ollie North?), and low standards of ethics (anyone remember Tom DeLay?).
Or maybe I just don't understand what evangelicals mean by repentence.
There are many programs that we have seen work successfully w/ prison inmates to help rehabilitate them and reduce their likelihood of being re-imprisoned once released. There are some prisons in California, as an example, that have inmates care for shelter dogs raising them from puppies until they can be adopted out. But the focus of such a program is on getting the thinking of the person to change. Most people who commit crimes are not very intelligent and not very mature. The idea is to get them educated while they are in prison and combine that w/ programs that help them become more responsible. Dog training programs have been relatively successful because it forces the inmate to care about something that is exterior to himself.
Other programs that have been relatively successful have been G.E.D programs or high school graduate programs for inmates (college programs have been somewhat successful too) and programs that emphasize therapy (in particular behavioral therapy). This is because a large percentage of people who go to prison do not have a high school diploma or a G.E.D and are also individuals who suffer from mental illness or who abuse drugs/alcohol.
In many cases it may very well be that a person finds Jesus/God/the-spaghetti-monster and this helps to open his heart and begin caring about other people. W/ that said more than likely even the most well-intentioned prisoner will only end up believing in God, but not actually changing the maturity problems that he had before. He will more than likely believe Jesus is his savior, but this will not help educate him. Praising God does not help you become sober. Praising God does not help you address your underlying mental illness problems (and, indeed, the most over-zealous of right wing supposed Christians seem to foster mental illness as opposed to attempting to address it). Worshipping God may give you the strength to make it through these programs or may give you the insight to start these programs, but the programs themselves are what's necessary for you to be fixed. You can't pray away immaturity, you can't pray away mental illness, you can't pray away addiction, and you can't pray away stupidity.
The saddest thing here though- at least to me- is that we put these programs into policy w/o a. looking for evidence b. thinking about the consequences of our actions and c. because we are so much more willing to accept the idea that someone prayed and that made them all better as opposed to the idea that someone went to a therapist and got the treatment that they needed.
I forgot to add:
Even though his politics were terrible, I do still hope that he (Colson) rests in peace. FWIW
As one who lived through his conspiracies against our form of government, I hope he is burning on the Ninth Level of Hell for eternity - tortured and condemned for every millisecond of eternity. This scumbag traitor is one of the prime reasons our country is in the state it is. He should have been hanged, drawn, and quartered.
No matter how evil or vile a person is you should not wish them death. Maybe you wish that they did not do the things they did in life, but dishing out death judgements just makes you morally corrupt. I don't agree w/ that sentiment at all. He did terrible things as a public "servant"- which I already openly acknowledged. Wishing him to rest in peace has less to do about his humanity than it does about saving my own.
Hmmm. How much more closely must one look? Well, it turns out that if you count the people who were kicked out of the program or didn't not complete the program, then the success rate was lower.
That's like saying you need to include high school drop outs or those who failed in your determination if a high school education prepares you for college. Of course if you did not complete the program, you will do worse.
Chuck Colson for all his faults and crimes, turned his life around and then devoted much of it to helping others do the same. I say good for him.
Umm...they do consider the drop out rates when evaluating how well a program prepares students for college. Drop out rates are directly correlated w/ how successful a program is at maintaining individual interest and that is directly correlated w/ how well a person learns. I'm not sure you wanted to go w/ this example.
Whether this translates into the prison system, I have no idea.
I will meet you half way and state that a person attempting to help prisoners through faith is OK so long as the prison system also addresses the underlying issues that brought a person to prison in the first place (and no, faith alone does not do this).
Colson's Prison Fellowship definitely works towards this end. Angel Tree is just one way the organization attempts to keep children connected to their incarcerated parent. Family reconciliation and responsibility is part of the program where appropriate.
In addition, there is an intensive after prison support system. The individual are not just "taught" something while incarcerated but the "re-entry" process is part of their ministry as well.
Not really Rob. Responsibility learning classes actually put you in positions where you have to be responsible for something and where you have to reach certain goals in a timely fashion. The reason why it works w/ the dog rehabilitation program is because if the person fails the animal will be taken away from them and they will no longer get to participate in the program. The program in and of itself, additionally, does not necessarily work towards helping them get out of prison. Angel Tree doesn't work on maturity building exercises, it doesn't address the underlying psychological issues as to why a person has maturity problems to begin w/, and it doesn't work to rehabilitate those ends.
What Angel Tree does is encourages prisoners to write to their family members, meet w/ their family members, pray w/ their family members, and send them Christmas gifts. While this may help w/ a prisoners rehabilitation and while it certainly can benefit a prisoner you cannot claim it alone accomplishes the goal of rehabilitation. Remember the majority of people who commit crimes aren't committing crimes because they have children or because they lack connection to their family.
The individual only has access to services that help him pray. The counseling services they give are no different than church counseling services: you're told to look into a Bible and read passage X in order to solve your problem. This does not address the underlying issues a person is dealing w/ (especially in cases of mental illness or addiction). While it may help a person gain the emotional strength to work through his or her problems, there needs to be some program in place that actually works through his or her problems. So, as I said, I'm OK w/ these programs as long as they are coupled w/ something more substantive.
Mouzer, you've either have had a bad experience with or have a complete misconception of Christian counseling services. These programs are much more than "here's a passage, good luck." I've used and volunteered with such programs before and they do address human behavior, emotional issues, and much more than just "open your bible to..."
The program you mentioned involving animals has roots in Christianity. A nun in Washington State was one of the first to start such a program in 1981. And most of these programs are funded and staffed by outside donations and volunteers. Not the penal system.
The 12 step program, formerly AA, had origins in Christianity (see Oxford Group).
The correctional system does very little to rehabilitate. There's no way they could afford to provide the type of small group and one-on-one services needed. Do you think your state's correctional programs work with inmates once released?
That's where these outside organizations (many religious) play a valuable role. These organizations are NOT perfect or without faults. But on the whole, they provide a wonderful service.
If you think Christian counseling is just showing someone a passage in the Bible and hoping it "takes," you've been mislead.
No they do not Rob. They address you on Christian grounds. These are not psychologists or psychiatrists w/ medical backgrounds. These are ministers or people w/ degrees in theology who teach you how to address you emotional issues in terms of Christian beliefs. They do not engage in cognitive or behavioral therapy or other corrective therapy treatments. They do not do this a. because they are not licensed therapists and this would be illegal and b. because these methods are considered 'inconsistent' w/ Biblical doctrine (pending your denomination).
It's very funny that you bring this up: the 12 step program is an exact representation of what I'm talking about. The 12 step program is a program in which they make you pray to God telling you to "give yourself over" to the lord and then make you go through "therapeutic" steps that are based on arbitrary notions (not proven means of helping people) that appease Christian dogma. Christian based programs to address alcoholism or other addictions and mental illness are considered wildly unsuccessful and often times dangerous because of their complete and utter failure to address actual psychological problems in people.
This is irrelevant since I never argued this point. It is also irrelevant who started the programs. The point of the program wasn't that it could have religious origins or that there aren't some religious programs that work. I was not bashing all religious based programs in general. What I was stating was that you cannot have one in absence of something more permanent. It just increases the likelihood of someone returning to the penal system. You are replying to a comment I never made.
And again I never made this comment. I never stated that these programs weren't ran by religious institutions nor did I state that religious institutions have no role to play. This is, yet again, another example of you arguing a point that I never ever stated. The point I stated and I will reiterate it now for the 3rd time: worship based programs have to be balanced out w/ programs addressing the issues that lead that person to prison in the first place.
Again I never stated as much. You are, yet again, arguing a point I never made
No they do not. They provide "counseling" the fits into the Christian dogmatic understanding of the world and yes this does usually include leaning on Biblical understandings of the world. There aren't a plethora of programs that counsel people in a secular way, but that are ran by Christian ministers. This is not coincidental.
http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholics_Anonymous
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/06/AR2010080602660.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effectiveness_of_Alcoholics_Anonymous
This is my last post here, so feel free to have the last word.
First, wiki, a Washington Post opinion column, and some guy online named "Orange" are not reputable sources.
I did look up the Cochrane Review and the abstract states,
So the Cochrane Review says there's problem with drawing too much conclusion from the studies it evaluated.
Here's a reputable evaluation from the National Institute of Health, which concludes the evidence is contradictory at best but in many aspects, AA is effective. From the conclusions,
As to the parts of my comments you label as "irrelevant," I was addressing this part of your original comment:
I admit I may be reading something into this statement that you did not mean, and if so, I apologize. I thought you meant by the above statement that the "prison system" should provide the rehabilitation programs, not religious organizations. I do not see most correctional systems providing much in rehabilitation.
In addition, most basic psychology and counseling principles do not contradict mainstream Christianity beliefs. While there are a few exceptions, for the most part, they co-exist and even re-enforce each other.
Here's a program I'm familiar with that is both Christian based and a successful professional counseling organization, Meier Clinics. Also, when in a local bookstore, pick up a copy of the Life Recovery Bible, a bible with psychological recovery guidance written by...hold on...a licensed PhD psychologist.
Lastly, I got the impression from your original post that you felt Christian (or faith based) rehabilitation programs did not provide sound psychological help and that the "prison system" had to provide this. My point is that many, many faith based recovery programs are grounded in psychiatric and psychological foundations. And, that the penal system, as a whole provides very little rehabilitation assistance.
There's a gnawing gap often between what you hear and what someone actually says.
I completely give up.
Colson was just a thug in a suit. That he called himself a christian matters not at all. Very early on, his ministry became simply a platform for the necessary legitimacy from which he exercised political influence.
The right did everything they could to rehabilitate all their Watergate figures from Nixon on down. It was in their interest to try to minimize continuing fallout, and one way to do so was just what they did with Colson. But better proof of how hollow these rehabilitations were is Dick Cheney. As Nixon's White House Chief of Staff, he should never have been trusted anywhere close to the White House again, but we all know the sad end to that tale.
Actually Cheney was Ford's Chief of Staff. But other than that you're absolutely right.
I was curious if this blog would address the death of Chuck Colson.
It did - and the tenor of the posting, along with the comments, were reflective of the cynicism (and in a few cases, outright hatred) that, sadly, I've come to expect.
It's obvious that virtually nobody on this thread knows very much about Charles Colson.
Having read most of his books, having had received his daily commentary called 'BreakPoint' via email for twenty years, having heard many of his speeches and radio appearances since the mid-1980's - and meeting him twice in the last seven years - I feel I knew the man very well.
I consider Chuck Colson one of my mentors in life. He was gifted with a brilliant combination of intellect, wisdom, compassion and a command of the English language.
You can toss the Slate article and the posting by Steve Benen. They don't even come close to the truth.
To me, these two short videos sum up the heart and the life of Charles W. Colson.
He will be missed.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rJMssRKkS8o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_0mk16wNfs