..
Biblically Correct Prison Chaplains Barred for
Being "Offensive"
Recently, two volunteer prison chaplains from Minneapolis congregations were
barred from the prison, according to a report in "National & International
Religion Report" (as cited in "Pulpit Helps, June, 1996, page 22). They are
suing, but given the climate of today's "politically correct" atmosphere (see
Ney Reiber's article in this issue) its a toss-up at to what the outcome of that
will be. The reason? These two are "politically incorrect"!
But, at least on this issue, they are "Biblically correct". They had been
instructed not to present the biblical view of deviant sex in their counseling
after a lesbian prisoner had complained. Now, no one is forced to hear or
receive their counsel, but that does not seem to matter. Hennepin County
official Marilyn Schoonover said that the jail "must be free of comments or
actions which may be offensive to inmates" and that volunteer chaplains must
speak to them "without judgment".
I think I would like such a jail if I were a prisoner. I think I would explain
how I was offended by the bars and locks on the cell doors. and that we did not
have steak every day for dinner, or that the guards carried weapons.
More than that, I think that these prisoners need Christ as much as ever, and if
they had already been His faithful disciples they would not have been in jail in
the first place. And Ms. Schoonover needs Christ as much as any of the
prisoners, and in truth, we all do. How long will our society continue to
retreat from its only hope? The pollster George Barna predicts that America is
headed toward either anarchy or revival within ten years.
We may be.
By Jon W. Quinn
The Final Page
From Expository Files 3.7; July 1996
