Why do drunk drivers and other criminals mention God?

[brettdale]

Why do drunk drivers and other criminals mention God when they get caught?

and why do the public forgive them just because of their religious beliefs?

[BlooInBloo]

1. Sounds like you answered the first question without our help. :)

[Robson]

2. Whom are we talking about Bush or Hilton? nt

[Az]

3. Because of the religious context

Typically it is an appeal to the god of Christianity. And one of the tenets of Christianity is forgiveness. Mercy. Thus it is an appeal to and a reminder of that mercy. Unfortunately it is rarely if ever meant in sincerity and is rather just an appeal to escape punishment by secular systems.

[wildhorses]

4. nobody thinks they need god when they are flying high --

you find god when you are knocked to your knees and humbled before the presence of his pure unadulterated awesomeness...

let the flames begin.

[durrrty libby]

9. Or you are just a jackass with a potful of excuses and

still not taking responsibility for your idiotic behavior and probably never will


I have a co worker who is a pastor. He is the most unethical disgusting person

He rationalizes his nasty behavior with, "God forgives me, so it is ok that I break

commandments"

I am convinced that this is the underlying belief of most so called believers. They make me sick,

and are nothing but a bunch of phonies

[wildhorses]

10. thank you

i love you too

[durrrty libby]

13. Sorry, but you misunderstood. I was just continuing your

conversation. 'You" did not mean Y..O...U

It meant the same "you" in your post

[wildhorses]

14. oh --- well, i still love you -- agape type

:blush:

[Joe Fields]

12. two words. anger management.

[durrrty libby]

17. I think you missed the point, but whatever

[BlooInBloo]

24. ... And that's why the word "one" exists, to indicate a non-specific hypothetical person.

[durrrty libby]

35. Yes I understand the use of "one" but I was just going along with the

continued use of "you" from the post I was answering.

Sorry that you and the other "one" didn't get it.

[BlooInBloo]

41. I got it just fine.

[Joe Fields]

32. No, I didn't miss anything. Listen to yourself...re-read what you've

written, and tell me if you can distinguish your remarks from the people you so detest?

[durrrty libby]

36. Oh you indeed missed it honey

[Warren DeMontague]

20. "you find god"?

Uh, maybe YOU find "god" under those circumstances.

You'll do well to not be so obnoxiously presumptuous as to speak for ME.

Thanks.

[wildhorses]

21. excuse me

i see you can type all by yourself. very impressive.

[Warren DeMontague]

22. Yeah. That's right. Write a presumptuous, proseltyzing & pompously generalizing proclamaiton

then get all indignant when someone calls you on it.

What about Buddhists who have bad shit happen to them in their lives? Do they all "find God", too?

[wildhorses]

25. a rose by any other name

still smells as sweet...

you say tomato

i say to-mah-to

let's call the whole thing off

[Warren DeMontague]

26. No, actually, most Buddhists don't believe in anything remotely resembling "God".

Nice try.

[wildhorses]

27. i am really gonna piss you off now cos guess what?

my best friend is buddhist...

nice try,

:evilgrin:

[Warren DeMontague]

30. Nah, I'm done being pissed. Sorry, I'm just in a foul mood tonight and that rubbed me the wrong way.

It sounded a little too much like the old "There Are No Atheists in Foxholes" saw, which is deeply offensive to many of us atheists, particularly those of us who have been in a few foxholes, literal or metaphorical. It's like saying "Just wait until the chips are down, then you'll admit that you're wrong about everything". It's a little patronizing, dig?

I grasp what I think you were trying to say, although the fact that you expected flames makes me think the feather-ruffling wasn't entirely accidental on your part. But, whatever. I'm glad that whatever you've found in your life works for you (you-you, not everyone-you, heh heh)

...what a far better world this would be if everyone could accept that their own answers didn't have to be the answers for everyone else.

Peace.

[mondo joe]

23. Or: people with poor judgment have bad judgment. NT

[Jackpine Radical]

5. I have done about 2000 psych evaluations of criminals,

maybe 500 of them in jails or prisons. I can't count the number of times inmates told me they found Jesus in jail.

My usual response is, "Oh really? What's Jesus in for?"

[ProudDad]

34. Hey, don't blame them

that's about the only fucking thing they're allowed to do in those senseless, dangerous, fucked up places. Loving Jesus gets them out of their cells a few times a week for "bible study"...


I got a real kick out of one bible thumper in our local jail who ended up getting banned 'cause he was muling in dope...

Funny, funny...

His idea of "bible study" was to show movies debunking evolution, calling it the tool of the devil and other such creationist bullshit.

[Jackpine Radical]

37. Considering that the average criminal has been majorly

traumatized and abused in childhood, and probably isn't too smart to begin with, they aren't in much of an intellectual position to take on the complexities of liberal religion. The simple-minded fundie stuff gives them the emotional comfort they need, and often has very positive effects for them at that stage of their lives. There are various models of moral development (e.g. Kohlberg), and these models generally suggest that people pass through a sequence of stages, and one of the earlier stages involves the unquestioning acceptance of, and identification with, authority figures. Considering where the criminals were at psychologically before that, the attainment of this stage is actually a positive step.

[ProudDad]

44. That would be great

If it actually changed their behavior with any more reliability than ANY other positive model would.

I think there's a fallacy in assuming that it's the fundamentalist BS that causes modification of behavior. It's more likely that "positive" attention of ANY kind that would give the same result...the Old "Hawthorne Experiment" factor. (http://www.mgmtguru.com/mgt301/301_Lecture1Page10.htm)

Most of the cases of jail house conversion I saw were a mile wide and a millimeter deep. As soon as they were sentenced, most of them said, "Fuck Jesus!" and prepared to duke it out in the deadly serious world of prison where the rules were EXACTLY the same as the streets they came from.

Another big problem I saw with inmates was that they were "naturally" more susceptible to "authority figures", that is, anyone they perceived as being more powerful than they were. It's that dangerous pecking order mentality, the same one that the republicans have used to fuck up the U.S. of A., that's institutionalized in these rotten places to the detriment of any feeble attempts at "rehabilitation" that may be attempted in jail and prison.

I think it would be better if there were other, less destructive models of behavior available to the folks inside. It would be even better if those places weren't places of abuse and torture but rather were ACTUALLY places of rehabilitation and redemption.

Absolutely the BEST book on the subject is "Beyond Prisons". Anything less than this is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic...

http://www.afscstore.org/store/product_info.php?products_id=5195

[Edweird]

6. "christians aren't perfect, just forgiven"

:eyes: bumper sticker on old friends car.

[Turbineguy]

7. God,

the last refuge of a drunk.

(with apologies to Ben Johnson or was it Oscar Wilde?)

[KG]

8. i sometimes find god during an orgasm...

which is a curious thing for a militant athiest!

:hi:

[Philosoraptor]

42. "Oh God"!, is mentioned frequently.

[johnfunk]

11. Because an imaginary friend is the refuge of humiliated scoundrels

[spoony]

45. What's your's name?

[LostInAnomie]

15. Because invoking Jesus gets the same hateful people that...

... have the loudest screams for blood and vengeance to believe that you've seen the light and are "saved" like they are.

Witnessing God's holy light is a cynical ploy frequently used by the lowest opportunists.

[Fridays Child]

16. It's a well-documented phenomenon.

They call it jailhouse conversion.

Edited to add that it doesn't help everyone. Remember Karla Faye Tucker?

[BuyingThyme]

18. Jesus turned water into

drunk drivers.

[no_hypocrisy]

19. I'm a traffic lawyer. I can answer that question.

To get on the good side of the judge. Not more complicated than that.

I've seen DWI defendants before the judge with their fourth arrest. The first thing their attorney will do is get them into AA and get a sponsor who will vouch for them in court. The punishment for drunk driving can be flexible/sliding for some parts of the penalty. If the defendant looks to the judge like s/he is appropriate repentant, is actively looking to turn her/his life around, and will probably never appear before that judge again, leniency from the court can be expected.

It's for show. The judge knows it's a farce, but goes along with the gag. Jesus is the DWI defendant's best friend in times like this reference finishes the job that AA started.

[Skittles]

29. "it's all for show"

that pretty much describes religion itself

[devilgrrl]

28. Why do professional athletes incessantly credit god for scoring touchdowns?

Who's responsible for fumbles and interceptions?

[IChing]

31. Touch down......God, you scored on that statement

Obviously God helped you write that because

Your own consciousness was not able to that.

good one.:)

[Der Blaue Engel]

33. What I want to know is what's God in for?

People keep finding him in prison. He must be doing quite a long stretch.

[Hamlette]

38. you can get away with almost anything in this country if you say you love God n/t

[Taverner]

39. Because you can justify anything in gods name

And the American Sheeple will buy anything packaged in religious wrapping.

[Philosoraptor]

40. The trick always works.

Much like being able to quote scriptures, it impresses believers.

[Philosoraptor]

43. Namedropping friends in high places.