So Rand Paul has entered the presidential race for next year. It’s kind of amazing to see a guy run president who has spoken against our military presence in the world, against the War on Drugs, against mandatory minimum sentencing, and against corporate welfare (and actually seems to […]
Last night I saw a prisoner on the MSNBC show Lock Up, and she was telling a few of her peers in the unit that she wasn’t really their friend, that part of her idea of rehabilitation was to sever ties with people with criminal mindsets. It came […]
As a libertarian, it’s dificult for me to want a law that forces businesses to do something they don’t want to do – as much as might disagree with them (as I do with the ridiculous old fogies who think that selling a cake to a gay couple […]
I was a Christian when I was arrested, 18 years ago, and I’ve since become an atheist and a profoundly changed man. Religion made sense to me once. I went to a church youth group, handed out flyers door-to-door for our church, was baptized in front of a […]
Yesterday I started a workshop class about communication, and a big part of it is making speeches to a roomful of guys. It was a humbling experience. I think of myself as an intelligent, well-adjusted guy, and I was ready to speak about the subject … and yet […]
It’s mostly a farce. Of course, like in all walks of life, there are a few guys in prison who genuinely care about decency and respect, but in general, prison is the last place you’re going to find these things. If guys are polite and respectful, it’s almost […]
It’s common in the outside world (e.g., teh hysteria over ebola, evolution denial, and the resistance to vaccination), so it’s definitely also a problem in prison. Guys in here ought to be learning about rational thought, reason, science, doubt, and so on, but the problem, they fill their […]
Aristotle talked about how excellence is comprised of doing and thinking excellent things. In other words, excellence is a habit. You are what you spend your time doing. Prison provides an opportunity because you don’t have bills to pay, and you have all of this free time. It’s […]
The golden rule is, of course, a great idea. A very common sense one. But it’s funny that may Christians (or Jews) like to claim that it comes from their religion. In actuality, both Buddha and Confucious came up with similar ideas centuries earlier. The golden rule is […]
Conflict is such a big part of being in this place, so it stands to reason that conflict resolution should be a focus. And it’s true that many, maybe most, of the guys in here simply lack the tools to look at resolving conflict in any other way […]
The problem with so many guys in here is not that they have no values; it’s that they have the wrong values. A younger guy the other day was excited, going on and on, about how he had witnessed a fight. By the way he was acting, this […]
A lot of Christians like to say that America is a Christian nation, or that it was built on Christian values. That’s just a tad simplistic. America owes a lot more of it’s cultural debts to the secularists and other freethinkers, those who embodied Enlightenment thinking. Thomas Jefferson, […]
A big part of rehabilitation (or, coming to view justice in the proper light) is the shedding of the groupthink that pervades this place. A couple years ago two kids tried to escape by stealing a forklift and taking an officer hostage. One was killed and one caught. […]
This morning I was on my way to work and a guy I know was walking with me. He was upset. Apparently an officer had gotten on him about wearing his ID. He had a habit of breaking the rules for always having your ID on your chest, […]
It’s unfortunate that so many prisoners think that the only way to a better life, to a moral life, is through religion. Morality and religion are so entangled that people associate atheism with nihilism (of having no values at all). Absurd, of course, but absurdity has never made […]
I’ve always thought of rehabilitation in prison to mean that you come to view justice in the proper light. That means giving up the criminal mindset, the idea of prison “honor,” the erroneous views about “snitching” and a hustle. All of it. It’s about changing the things that […]
Some religious folk accuse atheists of wanting to squirm our way out of a divine judgment. As if we want free reign to be irresponsible, and don’t want to think of a divine being up there watching us and judging us. Nonsense. I’m an atheist because I think […]
Last night (3/24/15) on CNN there was a special about atheism in America. I thought it did a very good job of pointing out the atheists out there who are trying to do good things, trying to show that atheism/humanism stands for just more than a negation. There […]
I know it’s difficult in here, since the tendency is always to group up, to find safety in numbers, etc. But individuality is the key to personal growth. The saying “Be your own man” is important because we ARE our own men. Human beings are individuals, not cogs […]
Okay, so religion can help some people change in prison, but does it really help that many? I don’t see it. I think most people take up religion just like they take up many other things to keep busy (they read, do arts and crafts, draw, etc.). It […]
Don’t get me wrong, I have my problems with religions, and Christianity in particular (I’m pretty familiar with it, since I once believed in it very much). But another atheism stands FOR, rather than just against, is free thought. A suspicion of tradition and authority, and an urge […]
Another myth about atheism is that evolution is some atheist dogma that has to be accepted for the worldview to be true. Nonsense. Evolution is just good science, as well-established as the germ theory of disease, the atomic theory of matter, and quantum theory. I never hear religious […]
The expectation of collectivism in prison is almost overwhelming. It’s us against them. Prisoners versus the cops. You’re expected to be part of the team, act the part of a convict, etc. It’s yet another example of bad thinking habits. Being a part of a team of prisoners […]
Another myth about atheism that I try to bust is that the atheist doesn’t stand FOR anything; he’s just AGAINST religion. Sure, there are some atheists who hold the position for whatever reason, and use it as a bludgeon against religion. And that’s part of it, especially if […]
A lot of the guys around here can’t seem to help making smart remarks and being loud and belligerent to staff. Prisoners talk about respect, how they’ll give it if the officers give it also, but over 18 years, I’ve seen 10 times the disrespect from the prisoners. […]
Okay, so religious believers tell me that plenty of people have improved their lives with religion while in prison. I’m sure some have. But for every one that has, there are many more who use it as a device while in here, then return to the same old […]
Yesterday I saw that Ben Carson, possibly one of the Republican candidates for president, said he thinks being gay is a choice because, I quote: “A lot of people go into prison straight and come out gay.” Really. It’s amazing to me what religious opponents to gay marriage […]
Everybody claims to “find God” in prison. For me, it was the opposite. I was a religious child and came to prison at 18 still believing in Jesus Christ and the central tenets of the Bible. A dedication critical thought, reason, and education changed my mind and my […]
I went to the dentist last week, which in prison generally involves a long, long waiting list, discomfort, disappointments, and other annoyances. And it’s easy to get into the frame of mind blaming people and being negative about these things; that attitude is endemic in here. But the […]
It’s a no-brainer that prison is full of negativity. But I’ve always found that nearly all of it comes from individuals. It comes from the way they view everything, the things they value, the self-entitlement that leads prisoners to think that they deserve this or that. And it’s […]
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