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Monday, September 26, 2011

Get Out of Jail Free

A small town in Alabama is offering non-violent offenders the choice between doing prison time and paying a fine, or working their sentence off by going to church every week.

The city judge of Bay Minette will give offenders the choice beginning Tuesday, as part of Operation Restore Our Community or "ROC," according to WKRG News. If someone goes for the church option, they have to attend every Sunday for a year and check in weekly with the pastor and the police department before their case can be dismissed.
~ from Alabama Town Offers 'Church Or Jail' Sentencing Choice by Jillian Rayfield ~
Talk about winning souls for Jesus!!

I wouldn't have a problem with this novel approach IF all belief systems were included. If a convicted nonviolent offender could choose to attend, for example, a mosque, synagogue, Buddhist gathering, atheist group, Marxist meet-up or Christian church, then it would seem like an okay alternative to incarceration. But limiting the option to one particular belief system runs headlong into the separation of church and state!

What would the supporters of this initiative think if another town somewhere offered nonviolent offenders the choice of Mohammad or Jail, Krishna or Jail, or The Great Spaghetti Monster or Jail?

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