Should Religion be taught in Prison?

[theophilus]

There is evidence that religious instruction in prisons can have a positive effect:

When people in prison get involved in religious services and begin to lead a richer spiritual life along with their physical, emotional, and intellectual life then they have more inner resources available to them. Because spirituality is essentially about love and connectedness a person who is spiritually alive will be less likely to hurt other people or to do wrong. One inmate at Lieber involved in religious programming put it this way: "Before it was all me. Now I know life is also about relationships. I have to think of others and God. If you're serious about God, you have to take on the nature of God, and God cares about other people too." Another inmate who was not religiously involved insisted that "life is dog eat dog" and went on to say "I will do anything I have to - lie, cheat, steal, - to stay out of here when I get out." Religious involvement can free up a part of who we are, and these inner resources can lead to changed attitudes and behaviors.

http://www.oregon.gov/DOC/TRANS/religiou...cle2.shtml

Here is an organization that has been very effective in helping prisoners:

http://www.prisonfellowship.org/prison-fellowship-home

I do agree with one point made in the OP. The government shouldn't pay for religious training. It should be paid for by those who believe in the religion that is being taught.