Most will probably recognize that theosebes is not a repository of support for murderers' rights, however when it comes to this some leeway needs to be given:
A California man who killed another man in a gunfight is looking to repent of his evil deed and be baptized.
There's only one problem – the local jail housing him is denying his request....
[Ramzee] Johnson has been studying the Bible recently with David Garner, a minister at the Oildale Church of Christ who thinks the Lerdo Jail's refusal to allow the baptism is denying Johnson the ability to be saved.
"If a person isn't baptized they won't get their sins forgiven," Garner told the paper. "A bathtub would work fine, just so long as they're covered in water."
Garner even has offered to bring a blow-up pool to the jail and pay security and transportation costs to have officers bring Johnson to his church for the baptism, both of which were rejected by officials.
Is Johnson sincere? I have no idea, but that's something for God to judge. Often there is a lot of religious politics that goes into prison ministries. Sometimes the designated chaplain will exercise control, forbidding prisoners from joining groups (or denominations) that are not their choice. Sometimes the jailer or warden simply sees it as too much trouble, digging his heels in just to be uncooperative. The former seems to be the issue here:
Dale Scadron, the supervising sheriff's chaplain and a Pentecostal pastor, told the paper he doesn't agree baptism is absolutely necessary for a person's salvation.
"My problem is that people here in jail with little hope are being told they now have no hope," Scadron said. "Now their concern is that if I'm in jail and can't be baptized and die tomorrow, I will go to hell eternally."
So since the teachings of Garner and the beliefs of Johnson run against the personal views of the chaplain, Johnson cannot be baptized in accordance with his wishes. What we see is Scadron making a power play. He sees the baptism as a threat to "his place and nation" because it goes against his religious control in his fiefdom.
One wonders if Johnson desired to exercise Muslim or Hindu beliefs if he would be denied.
Link:
Kern County Sheriff's Department
7 comments:
Just for the record the policies of the Kern County Sheriff's Dept. regarding baptism is a department policy and not the policy of the chaplains office. Also David Gardner was concerned for inmate Johnson and no other inmate. Furthermore The Church of Christ does not consider any other denomination Christian. Mr. Gardner also failed to state that unless you are baptized by a pastor of the Church of Christ you are not considered truly baptized. I’m also surprised that critics did not read the article carefully if they had they would have seen that Chaplain Scadron was expressing his own opinion on the subject which he is entitled to do just like Mr. Gardner. No where is there a statement by Chaplain Scadron that his thoughts are also considered policy. In fact I’m sure no one from the media even bothered to get a copy of the religious policies of the sheriff’s department . So lets be fair… if your going to attack people get your facts straight.
Thank you for your anonymous comment that clears up nothing at all. Was the inmate allowed to be baptized as his conscience dictated he needed to be? That's the only question that really needs to be asked.
I think the greater issue is that Chaplain Dale Scadron has been targeted and dragged through the mud on various websites that claim to be Christian in nature. Perhaps your readers may be only concerned with the needs of Mr. Johnson but don’t you think it is a bit deceitful to publicly attacked people who spend their days working with incarcerated and to have a local pastor who comes along with his own personal agenda and attack the chaplain publicly because the sheriffs Department did not meet the needs of this Inmate.? Also where do we draw the line in providing religious needs? Some Eastern religions require daggers as part of their ceremony practice. For those who claim an affiliation with satanic groups they believe in animal sacrifices. Perhaps we should use county tax dollars to escort Muslim believers to Mecca every year in observance of Ramadan. The fact Is the Kern County Sheriff’s department is understaffed and there are security issues that would have been concern to security personnel. Mr. Gardner nor inmate Johnson did not seem to care about those issues. So to continue to attack someone who has no control over the policy of the agency they work for is a cowardly attempt to achieve a goal at the expense of others and WOW what an example of Christianity.
So basically for you it boils down to whether or not you agree with his religious views. You find his views overly exclusive, which in you opinion isn't properly Christian, therefore it's good enough for him. Has the department published this creed so everyone will know where they ought to stand on these Biblical issues?
To my knowledge the inmate was not asking for a dagger or to go to a foreign country, but simply to be immersed in water in keeping with his religious convictions. You have built an elaborate straw man argument that has no bearing on the case at hand. Someone might request the book "101 Ways to Bust Out of Jail", but does that mean all books--including the Bible--should be banned?
Saw the "defense" of the sheriff's department :)
Worked as a prison guard for 16 years. We were chronically
understaffed, and were still able to handle requests like this.
I think someone's forgetting (or never learned) about that pesky document called the Constitution of the U.S.
He/she/they got riled up because someone has a different opinion and are now attempting official cover for a bad idea.
You've got to be kidding me....Maybe these prisoners should think about the reactions to their actions. When this man was shot and killed do you think that he had the chance to be 'baptized' to repent his evil deeds in his life before he died? Ummm....no. So because this Johnson fellow has been studying the bible "recently" and has some sort of sorrow and regret for what he has done (and who really knows if he is genuine in his actions)that means we should just go right ahead and accomodate his needs? Maybe Mr. David Garner should go to the family of the man that Johnson killed and ask them.
I am the cousin of Ramzee Johnson and I want it to be known that he is a VERY loving FATHER to his children and a decent human being and he did not set out to kill anyone. He was defending the life of his own family. He's not perfect but he sincerly loves the Lord. Please don't doubt his sincerity, he has never said a mean thing reguarding this situation; he just wanted to be baptized and that is all.
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