DownloadNov. 24, 2008 issue
Modern-day prodigal sons
By Gabe SchlabachPage:
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You’ve probably heard a version of this story before:
A rich businessman wrote his will, dividing his wealth equally between his two sons. The younger son, a worldly lad, asked his father for his share immediately, and the kind father consented.
Gabe Schlabach is legislative assistant for domestic affairs in the Mennonite Central Committee Washington
Office.
The son bought a plane ticket to Vegas and proceeded to squander his money on gambling and alcohol. He became destitute and began to seek gainful employment. Unfortunately, investment banks around the country collapsed, and the economy was thrown into recession, causing many at the margins to struggle to afford increasingly expensive food and other necessities.
The young man, desperate for work, became involved in unsavory and illegal employment. The police caught him and threw him into prison, where he reconsidered his life. He decided to return to his father upon release and ask for forgiveness. And so he completed his sentence, bought a Greyhound ticket, and rode back to his father’s house.
His father was waiting for him at the bus stop. The young man began to plead for forgiveness, but his father interrupted him: “My son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!”
Yes, it’s a modern rendition of the parable of the lost son. But unfortunately, our society’s response to the son would be different.
This conclusion is far likelier:
The son entered his father’s house. The servants ran away from him. His brother glared at him from a distance. The young man fell to his knees, begging for forgiveness. His father told him he could move back home, but notified him that he could never participate in family decisions and must always announce his past crimes before participating in the family business.
U.S. society, as a whole, is far more interested in punishing offenders than in welcoming them back into their communities after they complete their sentences and pay their fines.
Ex-offenders struggle to find work when they leave prison because their criminal record is held against them. Many have trouble readjusting to life outside prison because they are scarred by abuse from other inmates and sometimes their guards.
Many states restrict the voting rights of ex-offenders, even after they complete their sentences. Two states, Virginia and Kentucky, permanently strip voting rights from all ex-offenders.
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