Faith-Based Prison Raises Hope, Questions
There's no other prison in the country like it: a correctional institution based on faith, where men who committed crimes must commit themselves to a higher power while they do time.
Lawtey Correctional Institution combines religious groups and public institutions which opponents believe violates separation of church and state rights.
But religious leaders and Gov. Jeb Bush believe a structured faith-based program for an entire prison would improve the lives of men and give them guidance to avoid crime. Thirty-eight percent of inmates released from prison return, officials said.
Prayer circles and Bible studies assemble as often as a game of cards or chess at Lawtey.
"My whole life is so much more complete," said inmate Brett Bennett. "I don't smoke. I don't curse. I'm staying clean, and that's what it's going to take for me to stay out of here."
Almost 800 men from 33 different faiths are incarcerated at Lawtey. Most of them have walked through the revolving door of prison at least once before.
"When you come to prison, you got to put up walls -- at least I always did," Bennett said. "This camp lets me bring the walls down and be myself and be receptive to what's being taught."
Not everyone is as receptive to this much prayer, but what has happened in every faith-based dorm over the last month is impossible for inmates to ignore.
"I see people changing around me every day," said inmate Robert Payuk.
"I believe this is a movement that will set up the prototype for the faith-based prison system for the entire United States," said the Rev. Paul Smith, a dorm chaplain known as "Pastor Paul."
Smith drives each week to Lawtey from his ministry in east Stuart -- a four-and-a-half-hour journey to cultivate the spirits of men in custody.
"I think what happens is the seeds are planted, and once the seeds are planted the Holy Spirit will water the seeds," Smith said.
The program prepares inmates to give instead of take once they're released.
"To be used. To be used as productive members of families. To be used ... to be able to wrap their arms around children and to say 'You're heading down the wrong road. I went down that path and it's not the way to go,'" Smith said.
Faith and prayer alone won't create success. In a life-skills class, inmates learn how to get a job, keep a job and avoid trouble on the outside.
Dewayne Seward, who is Muslim, is in Lawtey because he robbed a convenience store in West Palm Beach. He has been in and out of the system since 1986 and never wants to come back.
"This program that we have now, it's a good program for all faiths because the fact is you have to realize the wrong you went through out there and try to better yourself," Seward said.
The American Civil Liberties Union doesn't believe a state-funded facility should be based on faith.
"Being on a volunteer basis, the inmates are volunteers, we use volunteers to deliver the programs and faith-based options to the inmates," said Department of Corrections representative Sterling Ivy. "We feel it protects us from the church-and-state clause, but we'll have to see."
The inmates can drop out of the program and transfer to a different if they don't want to participate in the faith-based program.
"If it's really not in your heart to have your life transformed -- they're not going to be able to keep pace, and you're not going to be able to get through the rigorous program to stay," Smith said.
Seward will stay, along with hundreds of other inmates who often pray differently but want the same result.
"It'll help an individual when he gets out of this environment. It will help him get on the right path," Seward said.
It's a path where there is hope and a belief that once they leave Lawtey, they're guarded by faith, not fences.
The program is too new for studies or research that could show if it's working. But there are anecdotal results: Guards at the jail say they've never been around inmates who are so well-behaved.
The program organizers are looking for hundreds of new volunteers to visit Lawtey and guide men for all 33 different faiths represented.
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Most Americans believe Bible stories of Moses, Noah are true: poll
Agence France Presse Sun Feb 15,11:24 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A majority of Americans believe many well-known Bible stories, including Moses parting the Red Sea and God creating the world in six days, are true, according to the findings of an ABC News poll released Sunday.
Although most Americans believed the story of Noah and the flood word-for-word, a large majority rejected the suggestion that Jews bear the collective responsibility for the death of Jesus, the poll found.
The poll's findings were released a day before the network airs its interview with movie-star Mel Gibson, whose film, "The Passion of Christ," depicts the last 12 hours of Jesus' life on earth.
The film has been criticised by some Jewish leaders for its depictions of Jews and some scenes portraying Jews in the film have been edited out ahead of its public release.
Gibson, who belongs to an ultra-conservative Catholic group, poured 25 million dollars of his own money into making the film, which he directed.
"While religious belief is a strong factor in a literal reading of the Bible, it plays far less of a role in views of collective responsibility for Christ's death," the poll found.
Overall, sixty-four percent of those canvassed believed the story of Moses parting the Red Sea was "literally true, meaning it happened that way word-for-word."
Sixty-one percent felt the same way about creation while 60 percent believed in the story of Noah and the flood.
About three in 10 said each of the Biblical stories was meant to serve as a lesson, but should "not to be taken literally."
Religious belief and frequency of practice were two key factors driving people's belief. Literal belief peaked among evangelical Protestants, according to the poll's findings.
About eight in 10 adult Americans are Christians.
Gibons' film is due to be released Feb 25. The poll was conducted Feb 6-10, it canvassed 1,011 adults and had a margin of error of three percent.