Putting two and two together and coming up with seven is a likely
conclusion if you have ever been to prison or worked inside of one in the past
twenty five some years. Fact is that prisons and the Bible have a lot more in
common as much of the stories written in the Holy Book refer to misery of those
suffering imprisonment as well as those numerous tales of the seven sins of
life and how they are interrelated with the way we live our lives and do our
work inside these draconic dungeons called penitentiaries.
When you are carefully
position the pieces of the puzzles together, someone from the outside can
easily glean and gather enough of a perspective to conclude that prisons are
filled with these deadly sins in one way or another as mankind suffers sorrow ,
pain and inhumanity during this era of mass incarceration in our state prisons
and jails.
The practice of committing sins has not only been a favorite
pastime of humans throughout the ages but has become a daily event for those
who live on the edge of life and ignore the moral compass that has been
implanted in our minds since childhood. It is with serious considerations that
personal experiences have revealed the ever presence of all sins as described
in horror by those who worked and lived inside prisons.
Pride is
excessive beliefs in one's own abilities that ignores the other elements of
being a fair and open minded person in a position of power and influence with
regards to the lives of those incarcerated and who dutifully work there for a
living. Pride is an obstacle to common sense and is often the reason for bad
judgments and decisions when the lack of humility allows mistakes to be made
without second thoughts but with dire consequences.
Holding powers of life and death over other human beings created a
thing called vanity that distorts the well being of others for the sake of
themselves. It is this self-love that destroys the very nature of a good
administrator as they quickly sink into the quicksand of the political environment
they are now entrapped without escape. Pride turns into arrogance over time
that obstructs due process, fairness as well as lawful conduct.
Envy is the
desire to obtain or acquire the status, the position or the power of others
sacrificing personal values in order to gain a foot into the door of success
and power. Envy can create a competitive spirit that becomes destructive and
selfish as they want to succeed at the expense of others and gain that upper
hand of those who they view as smarter, luckier or more intelligent than
themselves but are willing to compromise their own principles to gain entry
into the management world. Envy will result in the willingness to cheat others
and promotes discrimination and harassment.
Gluttony is an
enormous desire to want more than they can handle or need. It is a desire to
want the things they don't really need to do the job but gives them the self
satisfaction of having it just in case. A glutton wants power, influence,
control all wrapped into one ball so they can wield their position of authority
on those lacking the statutory or administrative positions to do their job
properly.
Gluttons squash the desire to do it right and do it with honor as
they were taught by their peers, mentors or teachers. Gluttons lack
self-control and impose their evil will on others without regards to policies,
laws or statutes that exist to protect others.
Lust is a
mistaken quality for love of the job or persons as it reflects one's self
pleasures and desires rather than filling the needs of others first. Lust is
destructive as it takes away more and more from the soul as it craves the
desire for the flesh, the pain and the sorrow that exists in a darkened world
filled with human suffering and misery. Lust pollutes the mind and soul of all
things that are right and ignores consequences or reckless acts or tacit
approval for others to commit wrongdoings denying that they had anything to do
with the wrongful act.
Anger or
Wrath is another craving of the body and not the soul as it focuses on
revenge and retribution for others to suffer and see life as an eye for an eye
kind of relationship. Anger manifests a fury that is imposed on others through
misguided use of force, living conditions, punitive sanctions and other tools
given to management to impose their will upon the prison world and its
inhabitants. This political wrath is both irritating and intimidating to others
who seek fairness and justice in most situations. This wrath will expose many
to needless punishment and torture whether physical or psychological in nature.
Greed is the
desire to own everything within your span of control and beyond. It creates a
desire to travel beyond your normal realms of reality and puts risk to your own
status and ruins relationships that have become covetousness rather than
sharing or providing guidance to others to enhance the job, challenge or
mission in a more logical and sensible manner. Your willingness to compromise
your own morals or standards is in danger of being lost, as your desire for
materialistic growth exceeds your ability to cover the costs. Greed will create
barriers that will impede your span of control and results in corruption from
the top to the bottom as others will act inappropriately without role models.
Sloth is a natural
result of expending all your natural energy on projects that require no
physical efforts or spiritual awakening. This sin is a quiet killer as it
creeps up on you and destroys your very fiber of morality and allows you to be
exposed or vulnerable to the other sins already described within the work place
or prison world.
This laziness can result in a level of complacency that will allow
disorder and insubordination to grow and reel out of control. You will lose
respect and your expectations are now in left in the hands of others who do not
have your best interest in mind as they risk your trust to do wanton ill on
those incarcerated and without self-control or accountability by those in
charge. Being a sloth in character, work ethics and ideology will result in the
formation of work place gangs, mass confusion, failures or flaws, an increase
in assaults on persons and serious disturbances or turmoil within the prison
settings.
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