LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY catvincent)

From Channel 4 News, this report:

"Governors at Dovegate prison in Staffordshire have started holding regular Christian missions.

The private jail claims it will stop inmates returning to a life of crime.

However, the highly evangelical events have sparked concerns that vulnerable prisoners could feel pressurised to convert."

Their preaching includes expressly stating God can cure prisoners of heroin addiction and AIDS "supernaturally" in four weeks... and the deputy governor is a convert (what a coincidence). They've also made a deal to have the cable God TV channel piped free into all cells.The preaching is only permitted as the prison is private rather than a public institution.

The comparison to the US faith-based initiatives is obvious... and the particular evangelical group concerned links to the Episcopalian-steeple-jacking, homophobic Alpha Course and the Proclaim Trust.

Whether or not a Christian evangelist organisation has direct lines of connection to those we've already flagged as "Dominionist", if it acts in such a direct way to undermine those who do not share their faith, prey (pun intended) on the vulnerable, push "name-it-and-claim-it" or "Prosperity" theologies, and to manipulate links with the alt.xtian economy to further their ends, it bears scrutiny here.