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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 21088
[Civil]
Date Posted:
8/26/2009
9:16:14 am EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 3,762
RSS: 20,753
Comments: 10
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Incarcerated Wiccan Claims Prison System Discriminates
Author: Jeremy Roebuck, The Monitor Source: The Brownsville Herald (TX)
Title: INCARCERATED WICCAN CLAIMS PRISON SYSTEM DISCRIMINATES
A Wiccan man incarcerated in Edinburg has sued the Texas prison system claiming he has been prevented from practicing his religion behind bars.
Charles Roberts, 28, of Brownsville, alleges he has asked several times for religious books, pentagrams and a person to lead Wiccan services at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Lopez Unit but has received no assistance from the prison’s chaplain.
"They have programs for Christians, Catholics and Muslims, but not for us," he said in a lawsuit filed in federal court earlier this month. "It is discrimination against us and a violation of our constitutional rights."
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Community Thoughts: There are 10 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| HOW DOES THE SONG GO? | Aug 28th. at 5:19:26 am EDT
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Whitewolf (Schenectady, New York) - Email Me
"Don't do the crime if ya can't do the time" ???
Love to all
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| Justice | Aug 27th. at 5:45:39 pm EDT
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NightLad (Toronto, Ontario) - Email Me
From the article:
“When he told him practiced Wicca – a neo-pagan, nature based religion — an intake officer classified him as "non-denominational," his lawsuit states.”
The government made the law, but they are picking and choosing who they apply it to. Whatever you may feel about people convicted of crimes or serving sentences, however you feel they “should” be treated, the laws that *exist* must be applied equally to everyone. If not, then why have any?
But hey, maybe “Justice” really is just another commodity bought and sold by those who can afford it.
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| I Really Don't Care | Aug 27th. at 4:06:00 pm EDT
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Eran Rathan (Old Town, Maine) - Email Me
if the prison system does not allow any of them religious 'tools' or symbols (of whichever branch) , access to clergy, whatever.
Prison should be a hard, harsh, miserable place. You should have to work, at difficult and tedious tasks, such as cleaning up roadways as a chain gang (NJ could certainly use this, I've never seen more disgusting roads) ; digging irrigation ditches by hand, etc. Their food should be minimal but nutritious, and they should have no access to recreational facilities or TVs, with the exception of libraries and classes (things that teach them useful skills so that when they get out they are not once again a burden to society) .
Let them suffer - if they would play by the rules, they wouldn't be in there.
Eran Rathan
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| Assumptions About Convicts | Aug 27th. at 1:54:07 pm EDT
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Finn (San Marcos, Texas) - Email Me
I don't assume those pagans in prison aren't "real" pagans. I'm saying I wish they would find another faith. Why should we want them? I don't believe various pagan groups should create "Pagan Outreach" groups for prisons. Why would we want to cater to (or recruit) from that source? I say let the Christians, Muslims, and whoever else wants converts from crime college have at it. I hope they win over ever single pagan behind bars so we don't have to claim them as peers. I'd rather we cater to pagans who need help who haven't gotten themselves thrown in prison. There are plenty that need it.
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| Incarcerated Pagans | Aug 26th. at 9:05:52 pm EDT
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foreverknightfan (Dardanelle, Arkansas) - Email Me
The simple fact is that some prison inmates are in fact fellow Pagans. We can't sit back and assume that if they are in prison they are not " real" Pagans or Wiccans or whatever. That self-serving rationale is a standby by Xians whose former followers deconverted.
Roberts is incarcerated for an aggravated assault charge. Such a charge is against the Rede if he was a Wiccan.
I do agree that if he can't access material to practice his faith according to prison guidelines, while he;s incarcerated he can resort to the alternate ritual methods listed here and made for those Pagans who have physical limitations.
A number of Pagans who first started out by had to stay in the Broom Closet had to improvise to avoid too snoopy parents or roommates. It didn't make the intent behind the ritual any less valid. The props are symbolic for the mind to tune in and use.
In my mind Roberts would have had a valid claim until he sued for half a million dollars. This is not gross abuse here.
Roberts got greedy and blew it.
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| .... | Aug 26th. at 8:11:31 pm EDT
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anne369 (Amarillo, Texas) - Email Me
I worked in a prison for many years, and we had a couple of sayings
Dont like the accomadations,
Dont make the reservations.
and
You were indicted not invited.
That being said, it is merely a matter of numbers. In Texas there are tens of thousands of christians, thousands of Muslims and Catholics and fewer than 100 people classified as other. (Pagan, Wiccan, and Native American, the TDCJ classifications, not mine. It is easier to accomadate those religions because they have more members. A fact that I am completely proud of!
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| Persecution Complex Much? | Aug 26th. at 12:29:40 pm EDT
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Michael Thornton (Mesa, Arizona) - Email Me
He's just complaining for the sake of complaining. Waaaah, I want special treatment. Waaaah, first amendment. Blah blah.
If you want consideration for your religious beliefs, maybe you should have obeyed the first tenet... You know, harm none? Maybe then he wouldn't be in jail.
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| I Thought... | Aug 26th. at 11:17:52 am EDT
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Ursyl (Murrysville, Pennsylvania) - Email Me
that part of the beauty of Wicca is that you do not Need clergy, or even special tools, to practice it. Much as it is nice to have someone else do part of the work for you, that accomplishes little, ultimately, for you. Guidance would probably be a good idea in this guy's case though.
While I do think they should allow for a book or two, there is no need for anything that can be sharpened. He needs time outdoors. A pentacle can be drawn in the dirt or on pavement with a piece of chalk. A finger can direct energy. Earth is Earth, Air is Air, the Sun is Fire, a cup of Water is Water.
Visualization/meditation skills do the rest.
Wicca down to the core of the matter.
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| Undesireables | Aug 26th. at 10:03:30 am EDT
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Finn (San Marcos, Texas) - Email Me
I personally don't care if our prison system discriminates against Wiccans, pagans, and/or heathens or not. The fewer scumbags under the pagan umbrella the better as far as I'm concerned. Is it wrong for me to hope you get converted over to some other faith? Prison isn't a place you go to get religion (although many do) . It isn't a place you go to try and scam the system out of $50,000 dollars because they wouldn't provide you with "Wicca for Idiots." Prison is a place you get sent to punish you and keep you away from the rest of us. Shut the hell up, do your time, and quit making the rest of us look like scumbags.
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| ... | Aug 26th. at 10:00:39 am EDT
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web
Once again, he's in jail. Jail is supposed to be hard, but withholding freedom of religion is not part of jail. He did the crime, he can do the time (or is this also some sort of perceived bulls**t excuse of "hate?")
Oh yeah...
He will pray
when he wants
where he wants.
School
Work
The street
The mall
Persecute him
at your own peril.
*laughs*
Sorry, couldn't resist that one.
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