My family is pretty involved with my church. My mom specifically, is involved with the prison ministry and with hospital ministry as well. In both, volunteers from our church bring the Eucharist, bibles, rosaries, and the church ministry to hospitals and prisons. I had never been involved with it before, but last week, I accompanied my mom on the annual prison ministry fundraising banquet that was hosted by my church portico. The tickets were a little bit expensive and they were also raffling away baskets for the same charity reasons. My mom and I asked what the money goes towards and the answers we got was that it goes to the national parent foundation and portions of it go back to the salaries of the prison chaplains , the various bible study, and the technology and training programs behind the program (Good News Global).
I usually have sort of complicated feelings with church stuff that my mom encourages me to get involved with and I was thinking about a couple different things during that banquet. The slogan of the prison ministry was “Bringing freedom behind bars”, and for me that brought up some of the ideas of White Christian Saviorism. Considering that all the Board of Directors is all White (see below), and looking around the room at a largely White reception it made me think about the messaging of Good News Global.
I think I would have felt better giving money to the cause if there was some kind of graphic or information that said where the organizations’ money has gone in the past and where they will spend that money. I think charities lack of transparency has degraded my trust in them, especially in ones with obscure websites.
“The Strike” documentary we watched in class interviews inmates after their decades in solitary confinement and they talk about “convincing your mind that it is not going insane when it is”, and how the prison system functions to break and control the human spirit. I think religion can provide some relief to the conditions/situation of inmates but that these ministries are a little predatory for this reason.
Unruly Bodies 
I’ve definitely seen many hyper-religious groups try to exploit vulnerable populations. Especially in prisons, communities in famine or war. They have little hope, and religion is centered around hope and faith in God and that he will help them stay sane. It can be easy to manipulate people who have nothing else to believe in. Especially those who cannot believe in the system, their government, or their safety/security. First, I think of the Taliban that takes advantage of the fallen Afghan government and uses that to recruit more people since they frame themselves as an Islamic group.
I agree that while ministry in prison can provide some solace and lead people to better themselves, I find that it is a lot more predatory. As I don’t think the goal is to really help people, but it’s more of a tax write off. To me, it feels like these programs are more about appearances than actual rehabilitation, as the focus is creating a good image for these organizations than the actual long-term well-being of prisoners. I feel like they don’t do a lot to truly reform them, besides surface-level outreach and conversion.
I agree with the point that the Church and ministries getting involved in prisons can help the prisoners rehabilitate and recenter their lives, but something about it feels exploitative of the prisoners. The prisoners have little to no hope in these prison systems, so churches and ministries coming in and giving hope gives the church a good image. But I think the purpose could solely be to give the Church a good reputation; I myself consider myself religious, and I believe in God; however, I see the flaws that the past and modern church have.