Stan Moody

POB 240
Manchester, ME 04351
207/626-0594
www.stanmoody.com

Prison Reform: “Am I My Brother’s Keeper?”

Stan Moody of Manchester, ME, former Maine State Representative and most recently a Chaplain at
Maine State Prison in Warren, is advocating for transparency and accountability in Maine’s prison
system…A prolific and published writer, Dr. Moody is pastor of the Meeting House Church in
Manchester and has been a speaker on human rights issues at conferences around the nation…

December 27, 2010

For most American males, the answer is a qualified “Yes” – Whatever it costs, keep them
locked up. For a lot of females, however, the tide appears to be turning. I recently have been
swamped with females – some wives and girlfriends of incarcerated males; others just plain fed
up – wanting to become involved with whatever it is I am doing to shine the public spotlight on
our shame. My problem is that I don’t know what it is I am doing! In large part, I am flying
blind!
The biblical story of Cain and Abel has Cain, who murdered his brother in a jealous rage,
answering God’s question, “Where is your brother, Abel?” with, “I don’t know. Am I my
brother’s keeper?” That question has plagued humans down through time, as the cost of prisons –
largely concentration camps for the marginalized – has been balanced against capital punishment
and rehabilitation programs. In the end, for Cain and for us, it comes down to the cost of keeping
the marginalized out of our consciousness and our neighborhoods.
So, from 1987 to 2007, the US prison population nearly tripled. There presently are 2.5
million Americans in prison or jail, representing 25% of the world’s prisoners. Four times that
are out on parole or probation, nearly 70% of whom will be going back. The national cost is
creeping up on $75 billion, with states like Maine and California spending nearly $50,000 a year
per prisoner.
By far, the greatest number of prison volunteers is Evangelical Christians, part of a
political dynasty that advocates for stern criminal justice with no frills. As a recent Chaplain at
the maximum security Maine State Prison, I never ceased to be amazed at the reports of
“decisions for Christ.” Am I my brother’s keeper, or am I my brother’s preacher?
Inside, it is called, “Jesus in the lobby.” That is, you say “Hello” to Jesus on the way in
and “Goodbye” on the way out. I recently wrote about evangelical warden, Burl Cain of
infamous Louisiana State Prison at Angola, that the so-called “Sinner’s Prayer” is looking like a
carrot being held out in exchange for preferential treatment. Am I my brother’s keeper, or am I
my brother’s confessor?
Prison Fellowship, popularized by its founder, Chuck Colson of Watergate fame, has
been tracked for its effect on recidivism rates of ex-offenders who had been active participants
while inside. While its advantages on prisoner morale and behavior have been widely acclaimed,

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it has been largely discredited as a restorative tool. Being my brother’s keeper, apparently,
requires something from deep inside me that can’t be faked.
Convicts are pros at spotting insincerity, while Evangelicals notoriously are not. The
trend is to love the sinner without paying the cost of service, although there are exceptions, to be
sure. Liberal Christian groups, on the other hand, are adept at championing causes wherever the
press is gathered. The press avoids US prisons like the plague the general public has assumed
them to be. Am I my brother’s keeper, or is visiting Jesus in prison enough?
That is where all these women with unlimited energy come in. What they know about
prison is something that a man will never experience – the maternal instinct. We are throwing
away millions of citizens, each of whom was just a short time ago the object of the happiest
moment in some woman’s life. In a sense, then, my brother’s “giver” may be the best hope for
becoming my brother’s keeper.
There are two general wake-up calls that prevail among incarcerated males. One is that it
never occurred to them until it was too late how much their own children would need them. The
second is that they generally speak highly of Mom, no matter how poor a job that Mom had done
in raising them. Mom is always Mom! Will it fall on the sisters, then, to step up to being their
brother’s keepers?
We have turned over the task of corrections largely to tough, stodgy males who pride
themselves in stifling their emotions. To such people, the Marine Corp is the best vehicle for
learning how to become a man. In such a system, there is virtually no room for rehabilitation –
only scorn for being a “pussy.”
It may be time for the wives, mothers, widows and female activists to take over if
America is ever to break away from this deadly cycle of abusing people our chauvinistic, macho
immaturity is telling us are threatening wives, mothers, widows and female activists.
From what I have seen, they don’t need our protection. We may need theirs.