We All Should Care About Incarceration

My eyes are open now.  Things that I would never see or care about now are so much more important to me.  I am tuned into a side of life that a majority of the population turns a blind eye to.  So I ask, when are we going to start caring about our justice system and how it affects so many more people than just the offender. 

Everyday I learn about a new family just beginning the journey that I am on and my heart breaks all over again.  The hurt, the loneliness, the darkness all come back in an instant.  Then I look at how far we have come and I am able to look upon my life and know that I am blessed. 

Part of why we were put here is to help those that follow.  I spend a portion of every day keeping up on the new developments, political issues or the e-mails from friends.  I am actively involved in trying to fix a system that is both misguided and broken.  It is like rolling a large boulder up a hill but there are days when we make some progress.

My question is, when is the rest of the world going to wake up to the fact that the US has the highest incarceration rate in the world?  When are people going to realize that using incarceration as a solution for every problem will only lead to greater problems and issues for our society down the road?  Even some politicians are beginning to see the light that mass incarceration is not the solution. It is time to understand that this will eventually effect us all in some way.  Some of us are directly touched by it, while tax payers, businesses and governments will feel the side effects of a population that is tainted with "prison time" on their resume. Incarceration is funded with tax dollars as well as social programs to help the families and the newly released who can't find work. I would much rather have my money going toward treatment to prevent re offending than simply punishment. 

As Christians, the Corporal Works of Mercy teach us to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned, and bury the dead.  And the Spiritual Works ask us to instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, admonish the sinners, bear wrongs patiently, forgive offenses willingly, comfort the afflicted and pray for the living and the dead.  It is not a salad bar that you should pick and choose which to follow.  Each one is just as important as the next.  Yet as a society we forget the imprisoned and are slow or even unwilling to forgive at all.  Forgiveness should not depend on the degree of hurt and every soul deserves a chance to change and be a better human being. 

I do not sit in judgement.  That is not my job.  I am too busy trying to raise my children to be fine, charitable, successful and grateful adults.  I can put my head down at night knowing that I have been there for someone who really needed me, someone that society shuns or scolds for their past.  My world if full of joy, and happiness and yes, many ex-offenders.