An interesting alternative to jail time

The authorities in Georgia (the republic on the Black Sea, not the US State) have come up with an interesting alternative to jail time for at least some offenders. The BBC reports:

Officials in the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia have announced a scheme to let prisoners shorten their jail terms by spending time in a monastery instead.

The scheme for petty criminals has been proposed by the country's Orthodox Church and government officials.

It comes as prisoner numbers in Georgia continue to rise and so too does the popularity of the Church.

It is unclear how many prisoners will be allowed to become monks or if they have any choice in the matter.

To say that the Orthodox Church plays an important and influential role in Georgia is an understatement.

Some 80% of its population are said to be Orthodox Christians and its leaders have at times played a part in politics.

Now the Church has gone a step further by directly offering to help reform certain criminals by handing them a cassock and allowing them to serve out their sentence as monks.

In a joint statement, officials from the prisons ministry and the Church said they would work together to select the convicts they thought would benefit most from spending time in a monastery.

There's more at the link.

I can only assume that Georgian convicts are a different sort of animal to the US variety. Based on my experience as a prison chaplain, I've been trying to figure out how a spaced-out, rap-music-loving, violent gang-banger, utterly self-centered (violently so) and intolerant of authority, would fit into your average monastery - not to mention conforming to the vow of obedience! I'm afraid I simply can't foresee any success whatsoever.

I hope the Orthodox Church in Georgia keeps us posted on how this program is working out . . .





Peter