America incarcerates more than 2 million of its citizens, which is a much higher percentage of our population than any other nation in the world, ten to twenty times as many as most western democracies. Unfortunately, putting non-violent offenders and drug users in jail has become so profitable that we continue to incarcerate more and more people and we keep them in prison for longer and longer sentences. This is an obscenity that targets minorities, the poor, and the vulnerable to be exploited for cheap (virtual slavery) labor and an excuse to demand profits from taxpayers. One of the most horrible abuses in our nation today goes on, almost out of public sight, and without a proportional outcry from the public and from our churches. We should take steps immediately to provide treatment rather than incarceration for drug addiction, empty our prisons of non-violent offenders, shorten prison sentences, and focus on reform rather than revenge in our prison system.
 

 
These progressive sermons are available as podcasts at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/progressive-faith-sermons/id419225485

Dr. Roger L. Ray
pastor, The Emerging Church
spfccc.org
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