Go to Church or Go to Jail

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishm­ent of religion, or prohibitin­g the free exercise thereof...­" but towns in Alabama can....Backwards is forwards...

Well Alabama leads the nation in stupid ideas and yet another attempt to force us into a theocracy with this one. An Alabama town, Bay Minette plans to start an alternative sentencing program that would give non-violent offenders a new choice: Go to jail, or go to church.

Starting next week, the program will allow a city judge to sentence all misdemeanor offenders to work off their sentences in jail and pay a fine, or go to church every Sunday for a year. Offenders who select church can pick the place of worship but must check in weekly with the pastor and the police department. If the one-year church attendance program is completed successfully, the offender's case will be dismissed.

The Alabama branch of the American Civil Liberties Union plans to send Bay Minette officials a letter demanding that they suspend the program. Assuming that the post office hasn't been shut down and that the town officials can both read and comprehend the Queen's English, they are wasting their time. The ACLU and anyone awake claims that the law violates the Establishment Clause and that the government cannot force someone to attend church. When the alternative to going to church is going to jail, the so-called `choice' available to offenders is no choice at all.

Pastor Robert Gates of Christian Life Church leads one of 56 congregations( who should start paying taxes), participating in the effort. He predicted it would succeed. Right...because Biblical prophecies are so accurate....how many people have sold their homes or killed themselves based on "the end of the word is on _________insert date." Thousands.
"You show me somebody who falls in love with Jesus, and I'll show you a person who won't be a problem to society but that will be an influence and a help to those around them," he told the television station.

Wash the Super Devil Out

You show me an episode of lockup and I can show you an entire prison full of Christians, Muslims, and Catholics. So...are they a problem to society? They are no longer a problem to society because they are incarcerated? It seems that Jesus is in the business of punishing these days, so this grand plan could work, other than the fact that this is unconstitutional and Bay Minette will probably get sued for doing this. If I had a choice, between jail and church, I would choose jail, you would meet a better class of people. In jail, they tell you up front that they are going to auction you off, stab you, beat you, put out a hit on you, rape you, but there is honor among thieves. In church, it's all cloak and dagger and manipulation. Choose jail, your butt may be sore for a little while, but you will have less chance for permanent mental damage. Here is  a can of worms that thy never saw coming, other than illegality and law suits....­what if they chose a lucifarian church?...­They cant tell you who to worship, or how about Rastafaria­n church?...I know the pot thing would probably draw more heat, due to the point that some people will have possession charges....th­ey need to find the most outlandish non mainstream religion they can and stick it to em....how bout the church of Jesus Christ Christian?­(white power church)...­.or some Voo Doo goat killing cult.

No one will ever be brought to Christ or any deity by force, the Bible says that. Even Satan knows that. No Christian anywhere in the South bothers to read that thing called a Bible unless it's time to kill something. What about if the person isn't a christian? What if he is a Muslim, Buddhist, Pagan, Jewish, etc...there isn't that much variety in an urban city (it's really a town), like Birmingham, imagine Bay Minette which is countrier than a chicken coup. This is a terrible, blatantly unconstitu­tional idea. Just the sort of thing we have come to expect from judges in Alabama, Texas, and Georgia the trifecta of idiocy. It's also utterly worthless as a crime-prev­ention technique. (Let's remember that the crimes of September 11 were committed by people who considered themselves devout believers in a religious dogma.­)  

And they wonder why the number of people are identifying as either atheists or non religious affiliated go up year after year. If you want any more proof that the Christian Evangelical churches are nothing more than a lobby for the government then you have been asleep for the last 20 years. George Bush was never a menace to America until after he found Jesus, he heard the call then ran for President. I bet they get a lighter sentence if they donate money to the church, or the pastors personal bank account. Let's just throw away the Constitution and replace it with the Bible and indoctrination.




This law should be Rihanna's next hit single: S&M with GOD. (that is if her label tells her to say that)