THE EDITOR, Sir:Are spouses being given visitation rights for conjugal activities? If not, then is the state acknowledging and making the prison an acceptable venue for homosexual activity and the propagation of such activity? Doesn't our law list buggery as illegal?
What signal would we be sending by issuing condoms to men in prisons? Are we encouraging our young men, who unfortunately end up in the prison system, to get involved in such a debased and backward lifestyle?
I must continue to emphasize the point that if we create a problem to solve a problem, then we have not yet found the wisdom to solve the problem. In any event the suggested policy is inherently discriminatory because it will only satisfy the sexual desires of those prisoners who may be homosexual and exclude the sexual desires of heterosexual men who I am sure make up the vast majority of the prison population. Even if the sexual needs of prisoners must be satisfied, then it would have to be done both lawfully and in keeping with sound moral principles that should inform decision-making and not emotions or expediency.
One should also recall the concept that prison is a place of confinement and that deprivation of sexual needs may be a part of the process of incarceration. Has anyone considered the approach to fighting HIV/AIDS in some countries in which abstinence is taught and promoted?
Perhaps what we should be examining is how we have operated our prison system and the fact that we need to seriously rethink our approach.
I am, etc.,
PASTOR AL MILLER
Fellowship Tabernacle
