God in captivity

It is by now well known that the United States' incarceration rate is the highest in the world. What is not broadly understood is how cash-strapped and overcrowded state and federal prisons are increasingly relying on religious organizations to provide educational and mental health services and to help maintain order. And these religious organizations are overwhelmingly run by nondenominational Protestant Christians who see prisoners as captive audiences. Some 20,000 of these Evangelical Christian volunteers now run educational programs in over 300 U.S. prisons, jails, and detention centers.…