I’ve been invited to speak at a local Unitarian congregation to discuss healthcare for the incarcerated.
As such, I’d like to toss out a few quotes from a few of the major religious texts regarding what religions have to say about prisoners.
Since I’m addressing fellow Unitarians, I’d love to have some quotes not only from the New Testament, but also the Torah, the Quran, and anything of interest from Buddhism, Hindu, Tao, etc.
Anybody got any good ones?
“Inflict not on an enemy every injury in your power, for he may afterwards become your friend.” - MOSLIH EDDIN
Not a directly religious quote, but a pertinent one nonetheless.
Matthew 25 - the teaching to the disciples about the sheep and the goats
31When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Psalm 107: 10-16
10 Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom,
prisoners suffering in iron chains,
11 for they had rebelled against the words of God
and despised the counsel of the Most High.
12 So he subjected them to bitter labor;
they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom
and broke away their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for men,
16 for he breaks down gates of bronze
and cuts through bars of iron.
“Kill them all and let God sort them out.” - Anon 
Not anonymous. Actually its:
“Tuez-les tous; Dieu reconnaitra les siens.”
(“Kill them all; for the Lord knoweth them that are His.”)
Pretty sure the Unitarians are into a slightly less “scorched Earth” type of ministry though.
from Hebrews 13 -
Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
The Book of Common Prayer includes prisoner and captives in the Prayers of the People:
…
For the poor and oppressed, for the unemployed and destitute, for prisoners and captives, and for all who remember and care for them, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
…
I know you asked for religious ones, but I can’t resist these:
‘you get further with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word alone’ - Al Capone
‘I was court-martialed in my absence and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence’ - Brendan Behan
‘Capital punishment … has always been a religious punishment and is irreconcilable with humanism’ - Albert Camus
’ Poverty is the mother of crime’ - Marcus Aurelius
and to finish:
‘there are three things I always forget. names, faces - the third I can’t remember.’ - Italo Svevo
Again not directly religious, but pretty close: Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet
And so on–it goes on for awhile and may have some good extracts.
Daniel
“Do not drop the soap in the shower”.
Believe me, this is pretty much gospel in the Big House.
Good, good, keep 'em coming!
From an old Quaker hymn:
When tyrants tremble, sick with fear
And hear their death-knell ringing
When friends rejoice, both far and near
How can I keep from singing?
In prison cell and dungeon vile
Our thoughts to them go winging
When friends by shame are undefiled
How can I keep from singing?
QtM, the book It’s a Meaningful Life (It Just Takes Practice) by Bo Lozoff addresses your topic. (Amazon link)
Taken from an interview with the author, who counsels prisoners: ‘You can do hard.’ The reason that we say this is that, in our modern era, the words ‘It’s too hard’ have become an anthem for giving up."
Lozoff has an honorary doctorate from the Chicago Theological Seminary and co-founded the Human Kindness Foundation, a non-profit that stresses simple living, dedication to service and a commitment to personal spiritual practice. Here is a link to the Prison-Ashram Project- a discussion about prison reform.
I haven’t read Meaningful Life, but We’re All Doing Time is awesome. (Amazon refers to it as “The Convict’s Bible”) (Lozoff appears to lean towards Buddhism, but hits all the major religions in his speeches and books)