Religion and Prison System - Essay Example

?Prison System The prisons in the American society have become a vital It has integrated itself with the cultural, economic and political sphere of the United States of America (USA). During the period of 1976 to 2000, the USA was engaged in building a new prison every week on average that eventually resulted in a significant rise in the number of imprisonment (Franklin). The current prison and jail population in recent times has shown a substantial rise of over two million. America undoubtedly leads the world in terms of number of imprisoned population and that is a disgrace. USA prison system has made millions lives to live constantly under the threat of torture. This is precisely true for the 6.9 million individuals in USA who are at present imprisoned or some way or the other subject to the USA penal body (Franklin). More insidiously, the prison system has essentially assisted in turning torture into a normal, lawful, and a common part of American culture. Imprisonment can be classified as a form of torture owing to the fact that it is considered as the legal form of both punishment and avoidance. Moreover, the American prison system is typically designed and run to maximize filth, brutality, and punishment. As mentioned by Franklin “Beatings, electric shock, prolonged exposure to heat and even immersion in scalding water, sodomy with riot batons, nightsticks, flashlights, and broom handles, shackled prisoners forced to lie in their own excrement for hours or even days, months of solitary confinement, rape and murder by guards or prisoners instructed by guards” (Franklin) are very common within the closed walls of the American prison. CIA black sites, Prison torture and Christian beliefs Any sort of torture is immoral. The main point to be emphasized upon is the necessity of Christians to oppose not only torture, but also the legal gymnastics performed to create the extra-legal physical spaces where the incidents of torture take place. The torture phenomenon in USA rely on spaces such as the CIA black sites, as they are beyond any kind of legal jurisdiction. The Christian belief is in sharp contrast with what is being practiced within the confinement of a prison in USA. According to the theology grounded in the bible and Christian tradition the legal rule is provisionary of god’s rule. Christianity does not provide an easy answer to the viability of torture that is practiced by mankind. It does provide a sense of hope about something that Christians should respect and consider even more than their individual and national security. Due to the fact that the portrayal of the black sites are as elusive as attempts to define their legal status, a chronology from the past eight years of information pertinent to them can efficiently aid in understanding the phenomenon of the black sites. It is true that the black sites function beyond the jurisdiction of international and even, for all intents and purposes the American law. However, the way in which they do so is dependent and logically coherent with the divisions of power and accountability between various government agencies and departments-in particular, the pentagon, FBI, and CIA. The black sites are on the fringe of places that common man is able to see, but are cordoned off by essential makeshift legal fences. After the incident of 9/11, the CIA was ordered to operate and carry on their procedures without any legal restraints. By late 2001, empowered to act without restraints, the CIA fell short of places to hide their high valued detainees. Again the additional freedom that was granted to CIA instigated a desire to acquire greater control over their investigation without any sort of external indulgence. Due to this, the government of United States of America allotted millions of dollars to construct private prisons that were exclusively meant for the CIA. These private prisons are known as black sites. The first known and prominent black site was constructed in Kabul on an old factory site named as the ‘salt pit’. In the present day, black sites exists in most parts of the world due to widespread terrorism. Although the use of black sites was banned after the year of 2006, CIA still manages to practice and maintain their autonomous robust power by keeping some of the banned sites operational. In the black sites, there was no possibility of diminishing the torture of an individual even if he/she obeyed the rules, as there was no significance of rules in black sites (Gushee and Zimmer, 246). Many Christians in America are struggling how to respond to this situation, as there is a conflict in realizing the relationship between law, politics, and the kingdom of god. Renowned theologian, Wolfhart Pannenberg, articulates that one traditional Christian method of relating faith and culture by demonstrating how political and legal orders prepare our society for the Almighty’s redemption of all creations. The theology emphasizes the fact that an individual belonging to the Christian religion, cannot under any circumstances, accept the presence of extra legal spaces, let alone the torture that summons in these places. Pannenberg emphasized on the fact that the almighty is righteous, and in the future god will come to rule its creation directly establishing an ideal order that will consist of “justice, peace, and the mutual fellowship of all humanity” (Gushee and Zimmer, 246). The renowned theologian emphasizes that through the process of life and death, and resurrections of Jesus Christ, this particular end-of-time rule is present to us as a promise. We all are waiting for the fulfillment of this promise with hope. Christian life is sustained amidst a hopeful anticipation of the time, when the almighty will reign as the supreme power. The theories acknowledge that, Christians sanctioning black sites or any spheres of action without legal jurisdiction is essentially immoral. It is certain that god, is the only supreme power who judges and redeems individuals. From a Christians perspective to eliminate any kind of action that they practice in their real life is to falsely believe what a human being pretends to be before god. This is precisely the practice of the black sites. The extra legal status of the black sites exempts the tortures from judgment by the law. Thereby an individual falsely imagine god turning a blind eye towards the relationship that links torture and the law to each other. However, in true essence of Christianity god’s action is not indifferent in nature rather it consists of judgment, redemption, and reconciliation. This judgment, redemption and reconciliation consider both the torture and the law in their relation to each other, and to the rest of the creation. It emphasizes that, neither the phenomenon of torture, nor the legal systems are completed ends in themselves. Rather, the ends of both are sustained in the Almighty’s redemption of each within the broader context of divinely creation and sustained existence. (Gushee and Zimmer, 243-247) The torture in the prisons of the United States has been a familiar scenario since the early historical era. The practices of torture are still carried forward even in the present age in various locations in America. Evidence of inhuman torture was eminently reported by many American news channels and by the media around the world. Sometimes the incidents are covered up by the officials of the CIA and the American government. The phenomenon of torture and Christianity does not go hand in hand, as Christianity does not support torture in any form to a fellow brother. Christianity emphasizes that nothing should be practiced outside the jurisdiction, and also the fact that god is the ultimate creator of mankind and the supreme power of judgment lies in his hand. References Franklin, Bruce H. American prison and the normalization of torture, n.d., April 21, 2012 from: http://www.historiansagainstwar.org/resources/torture/brucefranklin.html Gushee, David and Zimmer, Drew, Religious Faith, Torture, and Our National Soul, USA, Mercer University Press, 2010 Read More