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In the early afternoon I seized the day--a beautiful sunny 70 degree day the likes of which we are not likely to see again before spring----and went canoeing. I had a lovely time and enjoyed the beautiful golden November light on the hills--the trees have pretty much faded to brown at this point, but it was still pretty. I made the acquaintance of a becalmed sailboat and her owner, who, it turns out, also builds canoes and kayaks, and after talking shop for a while, turned around and came home.
However the League of Women Voters meeting this evening disturbed me profoundly. The topic was "Women In The County Jail" but the speakers--well, I kind of smelled a rat when I heard one of the speakers was going to be a preacher with a ministry to the women in the jail (the other was going to be the Coordinator for the Drug Court, which is kind of a rehabilitation program for drug addicts who end up in jail) But I thought, well, maybe there just isn't anyone else available willing to talk about this issue.
The preacher spoke first. And yes indeed, aside from telling us the women were mainly 20-40 years old, mainly white, and that a lot of them were educated and most of them had had problems with drugs, she spent most of her time telling "heartwarming" stories about people who "accepted the Lord."
During her talk she had made a big deal about how the local sheriff is a Christian and supports her work. So at the end of the talk I asked if non-Christians were allowed to minister to the prisoners. She got a confused look so I said, "You know, a Jewish group, a Musim group..." She said (proudly!) that the sheriff didn't even allow Islamic literature in the jail!
I could feel my eyebrows crawling up into my hairline at this point.
Both the Drug Coordinator and the preacher seemed to realize there might be a problem. There was a certain amount of rapid talking and I don't remember who said what, but both "it's just his way" and "He says 'Here, we work for God.'" were spoken.
I said, with massive self-control, "Thank you for answering my question."
I sat through the Drug Coordinator's part, and she mentioned a spiritual component to the program, so at the end of her talk I asked if her program had religious requirements. She got all defensive and said there are counties where people running similar programs are forbidden to mention religion (which does strike me as one way to keep a county clear of legal issues, since obviously plain common sense cannot be relied on) but our county wasn't one of them. She said she "wasn't afraid to talk to me" about that.
Well, obviously not--there is no particular risk involved in saying you're one of the popular, majority religion. But I guess she got to feel like she was bravely standing up to persecution while avoiding any real risk--cheap thrills, if you're into that sort of thing. But she did, in all that thicket of religious talk, admit there were supposedly (one wonders how this works out in practice, with such person running the program) no religious requirements, so I let it go at that.
There were no follow-up questions from the rest of the League. I don't know what they were thinking. But I feel very isolated and alone right now.
However the League of Women Voters meeting this evening disturbed me profoundly. The topic was "Women In The County Jail" but the speakers--well, I kind of smelled a rat when I heard one of the speakers was going to be a preacher with a ministry to the women in the jail (the other was going to be the Coordinator for the Drug Court, which is kind of a rehabilitation program for drug addicts who end up in jail) But I thought, well, maybe there just isn't anyone else available willing to talk about this issue.
The preacher spoke first. And yes indeed, aside from telling us the women were mainly 20-40 years old, mainly white, and that a lot of them were educated and most of them had had problems with drugs, she spent most of her time telling "heartwarming" stories about people who "accepted the Lord."
During her talk she had made a big deal about how the local sheriff is a Christian and supports her work. So at the end of the talk I asked if non-Christians were allowed to minister to the prisoners. She got a confused look so I said, "You know, a Jewish group, a Musim group..." She said (proudly!) that the sheriff didn't even allow Islamic literature in the jail!
I could feel my eyebrows crawling up into my hairline at this point.
Both the Drug Coordinator and the preacher seemed to realize there might be a problem. There was a certain amount of rapid talking and I don't remember who said what, but both "it's just his way" and "He says 'Here, we work for God.'" were spoken.
I said, with massive self-control, "Thank you for answering my question."
I sat through the Drug Coordinator's part, and she mentioned a spiritual component to the program, so at the end of her talk I asked if her program had religious requirements. She got all defensive and said there are counties where people running similar programs are forbidden to mention religion (which does strike me as one way to keep a county clear of legal issues, since obviously plain common sense cannot be relied on) but our county wasn't one of them. She said she "wasn't afraid to talk to me" about that.
Well, obviously not--there is no particular risk involved in saying you're one of the popular, majority religion. But I guess she got to feel like she was bravely standing up to persecution while avoiding any real risk--cheap thrills, if you're into that sort of thing. But she did, in all that thicket of religious talk, admit there were supposedly (one wonders how this works out in practice, with such person running the program) no religious requirements, so I let it go at that.
There were no follow-up questions from the rest of the League. I don't know what they were thinking. But I feel very isolated and alone right now.
