I wrote a drama when I was like 18 or 19 years old called Paranormal Schizophrenia. It basically was a quasi-humorous story about a teenager who was put in an insane asylum by his parents for being a Christian. Here’s an excerpt:
Doctor Well, Christopher, we haven’t heard from you this whole time.
Chris It’s because you are a doctor for the mentally insane and I am not crazy.
Doctor We’ve talked about this before Christopher.
Chris My name is Chris. You are the only person that calls me Christopher.
Doctor Well, Chris, we’ve talked about this before. Let’s take a look here (Looks through his charts). Well, it says here that you talk to people who really aren’t there. It says that you believe in Ghosts or Spirits I should say. You even believe one lives inside of you. You believe that some people get to live forever. But, you do believe that all people are evil and everyone deserve to be lit on fire. You think that there is a guy who died, but came back to life again, and is coming back to bring you with him to this new world. (pause) I am just saying things that you have said to other patients.
Chris I think some things were taken out of context and some things were definitely misunderstood.
Doctor Until you realize that there’s a problem, I cannot help you.
Chris I can say the same thing to you.
We Christians sound crazy enough without taking our theology out of context. I don’t think being committed will be a first step. I think the more logical first step might be edicts such as all citizens requesting a gun permit be required to have a mental health screening. If they define “prayer” as talking to someone who isn’t there, then I guess I won’t be allowed to have a gun. Because I’m now flagged in the system as having a potentially serious mental disorder, I wouldn’t be allowed to work in any government job. This would include being a teacher, police officer, or county parks assistant director of sports and activities. Then, down the line, judges could just Baker Act people if there’s enough history of mental illness. Do I think this is soon, or likely? Not really. Do I think it’s possible? Definitely. What I see as a trend is that they go after people on the fringe first. People that are out of the mainstream, people harder to rally around, and people that already seem a little unreasonable.
This all got me thinking. What would I do if I went to jail for my faith? What would I do all day in prison? Don’t take this list like I want to go to prison. I do not. Maybe if I wasn’t married, and didn’t have young kids, maybe… nope, never mind, don’t want to go to jail. But stronger than that feeling is wanting to share the Gospel with people. I want to tell people about Jesus, and share what He has done in my life. I can’t turn that off. So here’s what I would do in prison. (Be aware, my knowledge of Prison comes from The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, The Rock, American History X, Oz, The Longest Yard, The Longest Yard, Con Air, Death Race, Escape from New York, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Holes.)
- Write
I would write a blog every day in prison. It would be called Caged Wisdom: Part 2. Granted it may be more depressing than my usual fare, but you get what’s on my mind in the moment. But I also want to write books. I’ve been trying to turn my thesis into a book for a year. I’m on chapter 2 :( I have a couple other book ideas too. I also would start writing my movie scripts. “The Search for Anonymity,” “Angelic Deception,” and “The Last Son of Krypton” just to get started (have I been given a life sentence?)
- Read
I would love to see how long it takes me to read the Bible if I read it non-stop. 5 days? Am I way off on that? I really don’t know. I’m a slow reader though. 9 days? Doesn’t matter when you’re in prison I guess. If you are thinking that Bibles might be outlawed in prison, I doubt it. In fact, a lot of people will probably donate their copies to prisons. Spirituality is discouraged in Public School and encouraged in Prison. Go figure. I also, have a lot of other books I want to read too. There are so many great books out there and they are getting written faster than I can read them. (Confession, I’ve probably only fully read 50% of the books on my book shelf.)
- Work-out
I feel fat. Enough said.
- Discipleship
Every guard gets the Gospel. Every cellmate gets the Gospel. My work detail gets the Gospel. I would lead bible studies, have church, do one-on-one mentoring, and more. I would want to help everyone I could, no matter their race or affiliation. Yeah, obviously I don’t know how Prison works, but I know how I work. To quote the great comic character Rorschach when he’s thrown in jail, “You think I’m locked in here with you… You’re locked in here with me!” If God wants me to stay in prison, I’ll stay in prison. If He wants me released, I’ll be released. If he wants me killed, well then I get released in a different way.
Again, that’s not the path I would choose. But I do choose to follow Jesus through thick and thin. God has shown me more than enough for me to totally trust him. What about you all? What would you do if you were locked in Prison for your faith?
Joe Allotta 