The Hypocrisy of Christians Who Don’t Defend Prisoners’ Human Rights

In the past I’ve written about the complexity of being a descendant of enslaved people in the United States while also identifying as a Christian. It’s in interesting paradox for some, as many view Christianity as the tool used to pacify Africans during their enslavement. I used that article to explain how my faith in Jesus fuels my revolutionary perspective and to defend that faith. In this piece I want to highlight a different paradox I feel identifying as a Christian in the Unites States. Often religious people are viewed in contrast to being a revolutionary or a radical thinker thinkings, especially seeing as how Christianity is the dominant religious perspective in the United States. Many Christians fail to view Jesus’ true identity as a revolutionary teacher that was criminalized for his radical teachings.

Jesus was a prisoner

Earlier today I had the privilege of attending Good Friday service at Word of Faith International Christian Center, the church where I was born and raised. During service I was reminded that Jesus was a prisoner. Jesus was a prisoner that was beaten senselessly by Roman officials before being forced to carry his cross from the prison to his place of execution. Jesus was considered a criminal by the Roman majority, officials, politicians and officers and was treated such, dehumanized, beaten and killed before a crowd of people. As a prisoner he had no choice in the conditions of his sentence, he was forced to be executed between two other criminals who were sentenced to death for their crimes. All of which, many of us would think where unjust today. Killing two thieves and a miraculous healer in the most shameful way possible was entirely unjust. I see the same injustices in our society today, where three-strikes and truth-in-sentencing laws force men and women to spend their lives in prison, many of whom like Larry Dayries were sentenced to life in prison for crimes as insignificant as stealing a sandwich.

Jesus, during his time on earth, was considered one of the most dangerous men in the region by government officials. Yet today we see realize ha was the Messiah. There are millions of men and women incarcerated in our nation’s prisons that are viewed as dangerous criminals to the masses, but at the same time they are someone’s messiah. The prisoners we dehumanize, belittle and exploit are also someone savior, they are someone’s lifeline: whether it’s because they’re a mother or father, or have the potential to become a doctor or lawyer, there is so much potential stored within a human life that is stifled when we restricted them to living in a cage and nail them to a cross. We would like to believe that we’re the person who would have spoken out in favor of Jesus, but many of us refuse to speak up on behalf of the people who are begging to be heard today. We like to believe that our value for human life is the reason why we’re tough-on-crime but it’s actually our lack of value for human life that gives us the desire to create excuses for why someone should be locked up for decades. The three-strikes law is an excuse to lock someone up for life, many of whom for poverty crimes that they would have never committed if they would have had access to resources, education and living wages.

Roman Soldiers #FeelingCute As they Beat and Crucify Jesus

Often politicians like to say that we’re preventing criminals from getting worse by locking them up longer. However, we know that prison is a criminal training ground, a violent atmosphere that breeds more violent people. Rather than helping them, we are actually preventing people from getting better with laws like three-strikes and truth-in-sentencing, harsh marijuana laws and similar policies, all of which have stolen decades from people’s lives. These unjust laws are identical to the injustice that stole the life of the man that billions of people praise as their Lord and savior today. It’s incredible to think that there are people who are disgusted with the way that Jesus was treated, who are at the same time completely unbothered with the way that prisoners are being treated today. The recent “feeling cute” challenge has shined a light on the undeserved abuses that today’s prisoners face everyday. In today’s corrections officers we see the same spirit of the Roman officials who laughed in the face of Jesus as he was flogged and whipped senselessly (Matthew 27:15). In the same way that corrections officers post their challenge mocking the abuse they intend to inflict on the incarcerated citizens who depend on their protection, Roman soldiers mocked Jesus after they beat him by placing a crown of sharp thorns on his head (Matthew 27:29).

Roman soldiers most likely treated Jesus this like an animal because they had a biased idea about who he was, they may have been ‘feeling cute’ that day. The caption on their photos as they prepared for Jesus’ crucifixion may have been, “#FeelingCute so I think I’ll whip your Lord until his skin rips to shreds today” or “#FeelingCute so I might get ’the king of the Jews’ a crown of thorns that gauge through his skull today.” This is the equivalent level of disregard for human life that is illustrated in officers posts who dare to belittle the senseless abuse that prisoners suffer everyday. Many of us were disgusted with these posts, so much so that screenshots where taken so that individual officers could be put on blast, but suffering from embarrassment  or even losing their job isn’t enough. We need to remember, it’s not the individuals that we should be angry with its the entire system that allows for people that aren’t psychologically trained to manage desperate people dealing suffering from years of unresolved trauma. It’s our lack of regard for the human lives that are living in our nation’s prisons that allow for the criteria of becoming a corrections officer to be so low. Many officers suffer from emotional trauma themselves, yet they are given weapons to manage one of the most sensitive populations of people in our country. The entire system is disgustingly abusive and disorganized, for example, there should be way more counselors than corrections officers staffed in the prison. Oftentimes one counselor manages hundreds of incarcerated individuals, ensuring that none of them receive the level of individualized care that they desperately need.

Jesus’ crucifixion was a lynching. In the same way that white supremacists plucked innocent men and women out of their homes for meaningless offenses to hang on a tree as they gather around in celebration, this is exactly what was done to our Savior. Officials huddled around, haggling over his clothes and shooting dice for his robes (Mark 15:24) while people watched mocking and laughing at his weakening beaten and bruised body. Public execution in the form of crucifixion was the most egregious of sentences. It was a death that no one could ever deserve, yet many of us who come to tears thinking about his execution still support the executions of hundreds of thousands of people, often innocent people, because of their being labeled a ‘criminal’. For example, the 14 year old George Stinney Jr. who was publicly executed in 1944 was convicted in 10 minutes, executed. Though he was innocent his label superseded his humanity. This was the case for Jesus, and millions of other humans with that same label.

Jesus was Lynched, Sentenced to Execution

An equivalent level of disregard for human life is illustrated in officers posts who dare to belittle the senseless abuse that prisoners suffer. Many of us were disgusted with these posts, so much so that screenshots where taken so that individual officers could be put on blast, but their suffering from embarrassment  or even an individual losing their job isn’t enough. We need to remember, it’s not the individuals that we should be angry with its the entire system that allows for people that aren’t psychologically trained to manage desperate people dealing with trauma and feeling hopeless. It’s our lack of regard for the human lives that are living in our nation’s prisons that allow for the criteria for becoming a corrections officer to be so low. Many officers suffer from emotional trauma themselves, yet they are given weapons to manage one of the most sensitive populations of people in our country. The entire system is disgustingly organized, for example, there should be way more counselors than corrections officers staffed in the prison. Oftentimes one councillor manages hundreds of incarcerated individuals, ensuring that none of them receive the level of individualized care that they desperately need.

Jesus’ crucifixion was a lynching. In the same way that white supremacists plucked innocent men and women out of their homes for meaningless offenses to hang on a tree as they gathered around in celebration, this is exactly what was done to our Savior. Officials huddled around, haggling over his clothes while shooting dice for his robes (Mark 15:24). People watched mocking and laughing at his weak bloody and bruised body. Public execution in the form of crucifixion was the most egregious of sentences. It was a death that no one could ever deserve, yet many of us who come to tears thinking about Jesus’ execution still support the executions of hundreds of thousands of people, often innocent people, because of their being labeled a ‘criminal’. For example, the 14 year old George Stinney Jr. who was publicly executed in 1944 was convicted in 10 minutes. Though he was innocent, exonerated 70 years later, his label superseded his humanity. This was the case for Jesus, and millions of other humans with that same label.

Related image

There is no reason to take the life of another human being. Jesus Christ did not deserve to die. Like Stinney, he was innocent and like Dayries, the sentence far outweighed what would have been just. The work I do is fueled by my faith because I cannot help but see the parallels between the way Jesus was labeled a criminal in the Bible and the way our world criminalizes the people that Jesus died for, that includes convicted felons. According to Romans 8:28, God can work all things out for the good of those who believe in him. I believe that incarcerated activists like Jailhouse Lawyers Speak are doing God’s work by fighting against the destitute, violent and oppressive conditions of our nations prisons. I’m calling on the Christians to fight for those labeled he criminals of our day, the prisoners; the people who are over sentenced, senselessly abused and treated unjustly. How many more people have to die ?How many more people have to be treated like animals? How many more people have to be beaten senseless? How many more Lee County Massacres do we need to endure? We cannot allow the negligence of officers and officials to outweigh the love of Christ that pumps through our blood. It doesn’t make any sense how so many Christians today support the dehumanization of people just because they have the same label that Jesus was given before his murder. It’s time we rethink that story this Resurrection Holiday and revive the revolutionary spirit of our Lord and Savior.

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