Prison -- isn't it the one place God oughta be?

The ACLU ranks right up there in my mind with the UN. The two organizations have a lot in common. They talk a lot without saying much of anything, they spend a lot of money without doing much of anything, and somehow in the process they both manage to screw up the lives of nearly everyone they touch.

Angola State Prison in Louisiana is a hardcore maximum security facility that takes prisoners in and seldom spits one back out. The majority of the men who enter will die there but not before living grim lives, not so much different than that portrayed by Sean Penn's character in the let's-not-kill-killers film "Dead Man Walking" which was set at Angola.

In the real world, one of the goals at Angola is to keep things as peaceful and even-keeled as possible. Fewer riots that way, you know.

Someone thought a Bible verse -- imagine that -- would be fitting and so a statue at the prison entrance has for many years featured Philippians 3:13 on one side and a well-known prayer on the other.

The ACLU sued to have them removed because, well, we can't go around saying positive things that might actually help people begin with some measure of grace the toughest journey of their lives.

The text of the scripture will remain: "Forgetting is what behind and straining toward what is ahead."

It's the citation itself, the word "Philippians," that will be removed because it's from the Bible.

Oh, and the prayer, because it invokes the name of G-O-D, will also have to be blasted off.

Christian Post reporter Lawrence Jones writes:

Angola Warden Burl Cain made the decision to remove the attribution to the New Testament book Philippians after the Louisiana arm of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint last year, alleging that the Bible reference endorses one religion over others.

In a letter responding to the complaint, Cain denied any religious purpose behind the monument. He said the monument is for "moral rehabilitation," advising arriving inmates that "we are not going to look at the past – to let it go and begin change for the better."

"It is an encouragement as they begin to serve their long sentence at Angola," said Cain, noting that ninety percent of inmates who enter the prison die there.

Prison officials have also agreed to remove the "Prayer of Protection," inscribed on the opposite side of the Bible verse, to satisfy the ACLU complaint that also pinpointed the prayer.

The prayer reads: "The light of God surrounds you. The love of God enfolds you. The power of God protects you. And the presence of God watches over you; Wherever you are, God is."

No, now it seems that wherever you are the ACLU is, and they're going to make damn sure you know it.