Random Stuff

1. I recently read an interesting blog post about Hell, so I thought I would post a picture of my dog, Oscar, who looks somewhat like a demon. Sometimes I get the impression others find my blog boring so I thought this might spice things up a bit.
2. Last night I saw an old Seinfeld episode in which a character consistently spoke in third person ("Jimmy's new in town...Jimmy likes you too...etc.") and have decided to speak in the third person here and there in this blog. Ivan thinks it is a good idea, do you?
3. Did you know that 1 in 100 American adults are behind bars? That's 230 million adults. Beurocrats blame poverty. Michael Moore blames a dysfunctional health care system. Last night Ivan watched 3:10 to Yuma. Subsequently he had a strange desire to rob a stagecoach to pay off his mortgage. Ivan wanders if that has anything to do with it?
4. Ivan apologizes for not being a faithful blogger recently, but will be putting up three posts (at least) next week on interesting topics--at least they are interesting to him. (The Rapture, Sola Scriptura, and poverty and abortion).
5. Ben Stein has a new documentary coming out on an interesting subject. Unfortunately, the trailer pitches the film with a conspiracy theory flavor. The last conspiracy theory film Ivan watched and all its pseudo-scholarship has Ivan doubting whether he will actually watch Stein's film. If you end up watching it and find it breathtaking, let Ivan know.
6. Tommorrow Russia will elect a successor to Putin, who served two terms characterized by unbridled popularity. There is little contention that Putin's man, Medvedev will win. Ivan finds it relieving to set aside his ethnocentricity and offer up a prayer for an election not so close to home.
7. Abstaining from meat in this Lentin Season has been a bit more difficult than Ivan expected--but far more spiritually centering than he expected.
   

Prisoner's Rights in a Ham Sandwich

In a "postmodern world," defining lines of every sort are blurring closer to oblivion every day. When the time is right we egocentric maniacs demand the very defining lines we disdain be redefined to suit our wants, to prove our points, and to damn the man. Two of these lines butted heads recently in UK's Leeds Prison.

In an apparent mix up at the maximum security prison Muslim inmates were accidentally served ham sandwiches during the month of Ramadan. Read the article for the details here. Sure it was in England, but the degree of separation from the U.S. is more marginal than you may think--similar stories are prevalent across the states.

I am all for religious freedom, the right to practice and observe, and the right to share one's beliefs in the public sphere, but where should the line be drawn when it comes to "prisoner's rights?" Should a prisoner (maximum security) be given privy over their fellow law-breakers? A woman down the street from me regularly sacrificed goats in her back yard per her religious right. Should she wind up behind bars should she be allowed to level here weight and sue the state for millions? Where do we draw the line? Certainly if I were imprisoned I would want to live out my beliefs as normally as possible; but at the same time, I hope my commitment to the morals embedded in my faith keep me out of the slammer.

Most Christians believe in Lex Talionis (an eye for an eye), as do I. However, most Christians who love to quote this scriptural reference with retributive menace are ignorant of the meaning. A Hebrew of the Old Testament would have known that this statement was less of a demand for tough punishment, but more of a demand for "prisoner's rights." For example, were I to break my neighbor's nose with a hammer, Lex Talionis is not there to ensure my feet are not dipped in a vat of sulfuric acid for justice's sake; rather, it states that it would be a travesty if my punishment resulted in anything worse than a crooked nose--the punishment shall not be greater than the crime.

So yes, prisoners rights are important, and intrinsic to the signature ethics of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. BUT, rights must be deprived for punishments sake. A prisoner of a maximum security prison losses his/her right to personal freedom. Where does the line exist in the consumption of pork for the Muslim prisoner? What would Lex Talionis have to say?