Record-High Ratio of Americans in Prison.

Yes it's too much, but as long as we have crime we're going to need prisons.
And I agree about the laws,

 

We need more electirc chairs for starters.

 

who are we going to kill with them? Is killing people an option for saving money?
I can agree with not letting people sit on death row 10 or 20 years, but more electric chairs (or other killing devices) is not the answer.
The answer is Jesus. As always.

 

One sad aspect of this is that the rate of incarceration keeps growing despite the presence of thousands of churches. The same communities in Washington, DC, where I serve, that produce young men for the prisons are also populated with churches on every corner. Whether store-fronts or huge complexes, they (we) are not effectively reaching this population. Instead we are doing funerals for the victims of violence and are trying to comfort grieving mothers. This situation ought to indict and then motivate all of us who are called to ministry in the cities.

 

Spoken like a true Christian. Clear out the prisons by executing everyone.

 

Incarceration rates

How does a Christian explain countries like Iran, Japan, Norway or India that have far fewer professing Christians and a fraction of the per capita incarceration rates?

This is something that has always bothered me when this subject comes up somewhere, which seems to be more and more often as the prison population continues to swell.

 

Same in the Czech Republic, one of themost athiestic countries in the world, and yet little crime. So to simply say it is because Americans are not following Christ is not the answer, not even an intelligent answer. :tonofbricks:

 

Logically, that would begin to solve some problems, wouldn't it? Repeat criminal offenders, overpopulation, carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, the production of more crime-prone individuals raised by such parents.

But since logic does not rule, we have such a great problem with crime in this country for 2 main reasons: (1)so many Americans are here as a result of crime-- Europe forcibly removed many of its criminal element to its colonies long ago; in addtion many in America were otherwise brought against their will as slaves, abductees, and refugees from persecution... all breeding incorrigibility into the population, and (2)because of 1, we historically deal with hopelessness about the crime problem, that there will always be crime among us and we deliberately make it hard to seize and convict criminals with no excessive bail, a publc defender if requested, limited rights of interrogation of suspects, et al et al. From the speed limit on up, we have a mentality of "shove it" for laws we don't like, that give others advantages we don't have, so there is no sense of absolute right or wrong, legal or illegal.

 

Half the people in the slammer are there because of the phony drug laws and other victimless crimes.