Statistics gathered from US federal prisons in 1997 show that 75% of inmates are Christians, which corresponds to the percentage of Christians in the US population. Atheists make up 10% of the US population but only 0.2% of inmates in federal prisons. Interesting, eh?
Are atheists smarter than Christians and are therefore less likely to get caught?
Do Christians somehow convince themselves that they can commit crime and still achieve salvation as long as they repent and accept Jesus as their saviour?
Any other thoughts? I'm interested in what areas of inquiry can be explored from conclusions based on these statistics.
Please...I'm familiar with arguments from both sides of the fence so don't repeat the same tedious arguments from other questions.
I classified this under Philosophy instead of Religion and Spirituality on purpose, btw...
AmySue2006-08-18T03:40:55Z
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It seems that a lot of inmates "find" religion (Christianity or Islam seem most prevalent) in prison. Are they searching their souls and looking for redemption? I don't know. I wonder if the influences that they come under while in prison (anyone involved with them like educators, counselors, doctors, nurses, etc.) tend to be people of faith? It seems that there is a whole community of Christians devoted to prison ministries. Maybe they are successful in making lots of converts. Just my thoughts on this idea...
In this case, as is common with other statistics, I don't think that they can be used in a positive light. In the sense that it won't help in reducing the number of inmates, it can only really marginalise one group of people. I'm not a Christian but the statistics may, to ignorant Christians, seem like it's "pointing the finger". I was quite surprised (besides the pedophile priests and other such examples) that there would be so many christians in prisons.
On the other hand, one could argue, that the statistics are biased as the sampling technique isn't stated and that prisoners said they were Christians because they thoguht the information would be passed and hence they'd get a shorter time in prison? But i don't know.
Interesting question. My gut tells me that many atheists might suddenly find God once incarcerated. But then I'd expect most of them to become christians, which would give prisons a higher percent. of christians than the general populace, and you say that isn't the case. Maybe the stats are flawed, i.e. maybe there was no atheist choice and 0.2% wrote it in next to "other"?
when incarcerated, people tend to have more time on their hands for introspection. if they are honest with themselves, they see that it was personal actions that got them locked up. they have the time to better understand themselves, and to look for what is important in their lives, and what they need in their lives to help them remain strong against temptation to repeat their mistakes, once they are free again. they are just looking for guidance and help. atheists are not smarter than christians, they become christians once they have time to sort through every place they've been in life.