As an atheist, I would like to believe that -- but I don't. I don't believe it because I think the statistics are worthless. They are worthless because those prisoners have too strong an incentive to lie. And when respondents to any poll or survey have a strong incentive to lie, then that poll or survey cannot be trusted.
I worked in the criminal justice system for over 25 years, both inside a correctional facility (as a corrections officer) and outside (as a parole officer). I wish I had a dollar for every prisoner who claimed to have been converted to religion, or showed up to the parole office for his/her first visit with a religious text in hand. I would be a rich man.
Most prisoners (and parolees) are smart enough to know that you do not appear before a parole board composed of religious people and claim to be atheist, if you really want to get out of prison -- and you do not impress a parole officer who is probably religious by claiming to be an atheist, if you want to stay out of prison. They know that most people in this country are religious, and that the perception of many in this country is that religious people are more moral than non-religious people. That perception is not true, but it is real, and prisoners and parolees are smart enough to take advantage of it -- so many of them lie, and say they have found religion.
We can understand why they claim, many times falsely, to be a religious person. They want out of the very bad situation they have put themselves in -- and the easiest way to do that is to use religion.
The truth is that there are many religious people and many atheists who are moral, and many who are not. Neither religion nor denial of religion is an indicator of good (or bad) moral character. But as long as the false perception exists among Americans that religion and morality are somehow tied together, the incentive for prisoners to lie about religion will exist.
And where a strong incentive to lie is evident, statistics cannot be believed. That means the new statistics on the amount of atheists in prison is worthless.
It's not just prisoners who take advantage of the Christian religion. Advertisers, businessmen, companies, politicians and more use scripture and other religious slogans to sell. They also try to appeal to the religious "values ethos" of Christians. And I look at this pandering as diametrically opposed to the overt religious intent of Christianity. So if prisoners pander their conversions or their return to the righteous path to their parole boards, they have learned their lessons well. And I believe that there are way more Christians among our prison population than other religions or Atheists because there are way more Christians in the general population and prison is a microcosm of the culture of our country.
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