INDIANS KICKED OUT OF THE RFRA:
George Dubyou Bush, Jr., signed the new Texas Religious Freedom Rights Act into law but only after pris-oners were excluded at the last minute. He signed the Texas RFRA on June 10, 1999, sans Indians. Prisoners were denied protection under the bill due to the protests of right-wing religious fascists who demanded that prisoners and homosexuals be denied equal protection of the law. Prisoners were removed; homosexuals were not. Prisoners can't vote; homosexuals can. Simple as that. The Christian right-wing has one of the most powerful lobbies in Texas, and they were concerned that the RFRA would put an end to their right to discriminate against prisoners and homosexuals for religious reasons.
The chief protestor was The Justice Fellowship, which is the Public Policy affiliate of Chuck Colson's ministries to prisoners. Chuck Colson didn't need protection for his hustle because he is already in with TDCJ thick as thieves. Plus he is dispensing the religion of the dominant culture.
Pat Nolan, president of Fascist Fellowship (oh, excuse me but Justice Fellowship seems to me to be an oxymoron)-anyway he sniveled about the Gays not being kicked out of the bill along with the prisoners, saying, "This is the first victory for Gay Rights groups around the country to get a civil rights exception carved out of the religious freedom bill!"
Also protesting prisoners and homosexuals in the bill was Gary Bauer, former president of The Family Research Council and a rival of Bush, Jr., for the GOP nomination.
I have learned to my utter dismay that the Native American Church also does not support religious rights for prisoners. The position of the Native American Church is that prisoners should wait until they get out to practice their religion. I suppose they think that if we never get out-as most of us in Texas prisons never do-we should have no religion at all.
Here is the mindset of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) when it comes to Indian religion. In the June 17-23, 1999, issue of Current magazine, Jenny Browne interviewed John V. Martinez, Director of the Prisoners Defense Committee in San Antonio. In that article, Glen Castlep;bury, TDCJ Director of Public Information (Propaganda Minister) is reported to have said when asked by Jenny Browne about spiritual advisors and sweat lodges that TDCJ needs to prevent inmates from selecting what Castlebury sees as "inappropriate spiritual advisors" from the Ku Klux Klan or radical Muslim groups. Castlebury also says "we will fight until the last court with Native Americans about that sweat lodge thing."
So then it's settled: We won't be allowed to have Ku Klux Klansmen as spiritual leaders and radical Muslims can't run our sweat lodges.
In George Dubyou Bush, Jr's Execution Capitol of the Western World, IGNORANCE REIGNS SUPREME, and all's right with the religious right because
"THAT SWEAT LODGE THING IS DEAD!"