Imagine if we had a technology which allowed us to control the thoughts and actions of other people with high precision; we could implant devices in the brains of criminals and henceforth use remote control to keep them out of trouble. It would certainly rehabilitate criminals; yet it seems to me that the cost in theft of liberty is simply too high to be worth it.

Since religious indoctrination basically entails, as far as I can tell, blatantly lying to people on a massive scale and persuading them to believe ridiculous delusions—unless it is the only way to prevent crime, it may still be wrong.

In fact, I think the justice system has two primary goals: 1. Making immoral acts irrational through punitive consequences. 2. Helping people behave rationally.

We do a fair amount of the first, but very little of the second.

You said

“Where is the data that proves religious programs work? Likewise, where is the data that shows an atheist-based program would work better?”

The data regarding the effectiveness of religious programs is discussed in the books I cited. As for an atheist based program working better, I don’t recall making that particular claim. In fact, a program based on the non-existence of God seems a bit silly to me. Atheism is a lack of belief in something, and has no inherent principles, rules, or teachings. However, given the scope of this essay I felt it would have been distracting to get into details about the definition of “effectiveness.” as it pertains to the rehabilitation of inmates. My support for the Freethought Books Project is based on my belief that our inmates are currently in a bias system that is dangerously easy to abuse by management and which may not be effective for everyone.

“State-mandated religion of course is against our constitution…. But, if in each case, it is not state-mandated, then why jump into something without knowing if the programs work?”

I am not against religious programs that are not state mandated are disproportionately promoted.

“By introducing an atheist approach to rehabilitation, how are you sure you would be helping the prisoner rehabilitate themselves vs hurt them?”

This is not an atheist approach, and at no point in the blog did I ever use atheism as a basis to justify my position, save for and example of how a bias system would be incapable of helping me personally. Also, I support the idea of equal access and promotion of secular, not necessarily atheistic, rehabilitation programs so that inmates have a larger pool of options to choose the course that is right for them.

“If prison systems recognize that faith-based initiatives actually reduce violence in prisons, and help prisoners stay out of prison then unless atheist initiates have valid data to back up their way is better, why offer their solution? Why would a prison even consider it without facts to back it up?”

I am not asking that state faith initiatives be abandoned. our prisoners are human beings, and should have the access to religious services like everyone else. However, non-religious individuals deserve the opportunity to and access to non-religious rehabilitation programs and the ability to pursue those opportunities without derision, coercion, or bias influence.

Is it possible that “the cause” isn’t the right thing for these people? If all you do is give them one less reason to care about what they do to others, your energy might be better spent elsewhere.

State-mandated religion of course is against our constitution…. But, if in each case, it is not state-mandated, then why jump into something without knowing if the programs work? By introducing an atheist approach to rehabilitation, how are you sure you would be helping the prisoner rehabilitate themselves vs hurt them?

If prison systems recognize that faith-based initiatives actually reduce violence in prisons, and help prisoners stay out of prison then unless atheist initiates have valid data to back up their way is better, why offer their solution? Why would a prison even consider it without facts to back it up?

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