give em a pencil and tell em to shut the hell up...
Posted on 05/11/2008 7:49:39 PM PDT by Baladas
Prison bosses have been instructed to let pagan inmates keep twigs in their cells...to use as wands.
Officers have been told to allow prisoners to collect and decorate the twigs which they need for their rituals.
It is the latest in a series of rulings to protect convicts' rights and ensure equality among different faiths.
Followers of other faiths are allowed items such as a prayer mat to allow them to worship.
The policy regarding pagans was announced by Justice Reform Minister Maria Eagle in a parliamentary answer.
She said: "Prison service policy is to enable prisoners of different faith traditions, including paganism, to practise their religion.
"Religious artefacts are allowed for relevant faiths within the constraints of good order and discipline. The religious artefacts for pagan prisoners include a flexible twig for a wand."
Tory prisons spokesman Edward Garnier said: "This sounds like an April Fool's Day joke. But there's genuine concern prisoners are taking the system for a ride."
Conservative MP Andrew Turner, who uncovered the new ruling, added: "This strikes me as bizarre. A lot of people would be worried about equating paganism with Christianity."
Eh, bloke! Moy relijun says I asta av a hacksore wi me all uh toym! Giv it me!
Nothing new. Magic “wands” have been part of prison life for quite some time.
Don’t nobody bend over in front of one of these kooks and their “magic wand”.
Yep, next thing on the legal agenda.
Do polygamists get special rights in jail?
If so, expect an avalanche of Mormon converts.
It would seem that convicted prisoners are privileged to more rights than the average citizen walking the streets?
What is with frikin Liberals that they can be forever ignorant??
give em a pencil and tell em to shut the hell up...
"Equating?" ... paganism is the antithesis of Christianity so that would be difficult.
Geesh - regular folks like us can't even take a nail clipper on an airplane and yet *prisoners* who apparently read too much Harry Potter can have wooden sticks for casting spells or for sharpening into weapons. What's next?! Voodoo Dolls with straight pins and sacrificial goats are acceptable religious props in prison?
I worship women ... I demand one under me ... I mean, under my pillow.
What if they need 357 magnums for their rituals? OK for them to have these as well?
And a couple of pints of bitters too, just to get the magic going. And they have to do the magic out in the country all alone. For about a week, that is, so don’t come looking till then. They have their rights, you know.
Well to burrow an appropriate quote: magic wands were made from Holly wood & Hollywood is still working its magic.
But won’t they br able to break out wiht those things? They are magic after all!
Arthur: Oh not another shrubbery!
Knight of Ni: (excitedly) THEN... Then, when you have found the shrubbery, you must place it here, beside this shrubbery, only slightly higher, so we get the two-level effect with a little path running down the middle.
Other Knights of Ni: A path! A path! A path! Shh, shhh. Ni! Ni!
Knight of Ni: Then, when you have found the shrubbery, you must cut down the mightiest tree in the forest... Wiiiiiithh.... A HERRING!
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