Letter: In prison, religion can be aid or crutch

Saturday, Sept. 15, 2007 | 7:47 a.m.

An editorial in the Las Vegas Sun ("Overly zealous approach," Sept. 13) said "books and materials that incite violence do not belong in prisons." That would seem to bar the Torah, the Old Testament and the Quran from our penal institutions, as those volumes are filled with injunctions about whom to kill or slaughter, and when and how. All with divine sanction, presumably.

Although some prisoners do indeed use religion as a guide to turn their lives around, others find solace in religion while failing to change their criminality.

Ultimately, rehabilitation requires taking personal responsibility for one's actions, and a willingness to make changes in one's life to achieve a different outcome. These are fundamentally human activities that many think are more effectively addressed by secular counseling and training.

Carl Kaun, Henderson

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