Should inmates have religious freedom?

Published June 3, 2005

IN THEORY

Should inmates have religious freedom?

Q: The U.S. Supreme Court this week upheld a federal law requiring state prisons to accommodate the religious affiliations of inmates (Cutter vs. Wilkinson). Prison officials have opposed the requirement. Do you think Congress should be able to pass laws that create protections for inmates' religious practices?

A: Can and should religious expressions be restricted in a restricted facility? The first amendment of our Constitution is at the center of this argument. Surely those skilled at laws will weigh in and the Supreme Court will make its ruling.

For us in the religious community, the issues must go beyond the debating of laws. Rather, we need to address the point of societal evolution we find ourselves in today where we understand everything and anything that deals with human inquiry and expression as models for religion. Hence, racism, intolerance, ethnic superiority, can all hide under the classification of religious thought; therefore, there arises an expectation for laws and government to protect a person's right to these expressions.

The "first amendment" of what we refer to as Holy Scripture clearly designates that there is one final purpose and expression that is at the center of our existence. It is, very simply, love. It should be used as measuring tool to gauge our motives and actions. In love there can be no superiority, racism, intolerance or any system that diminishes the value of another's life.

As an Armenian priest, I bear witness to the history of the Armenians, who have spent centuries imprisoned, even in their own ancestral homelands. During that time, it was their expressions of faith that allowed them to survive against the wave of intolerance and inhumanity. The freedom to practice their faith was not guaranteed by any legislation; rather it was the innate expression of love that was transferred through the generations. That was what maintained the sense of dignity in the face of brutality.

Whether in prison or in the most posh environments of our communities, where humans are searching for any expression that might elevate their personhood from their already stripped identity, religion can and should be offered as the means for self-definition. And yes, we do have a responsibility to insure that love becomes the highest ideal and goal of what is called religion.

Fr. Vazken Movsesian
Armenian Church Youth Ministries