I Can't Tell If It's Honesty or Jealousy

In the December 7, 2007, issue of the lay-Catholic magazine Commonweal, writer Dennis Burke discusses his work at San Quentin jail:

. . . The Q, which sits on prime real estate on the west side of San Francisco Bay, is a bastion of Christian fundamentalism. Bulging with born-again believers, a Bible in every cell, the prison sometimes feels like a multitiered revivalist church.

The inmates I have met over my years of prison ministry come from the meanest streets of California's fifty-seven counties. Most lack high-school diplomas, are marginally literate, and are prime targets for religious preachers. Suddenly isolated from family and friends, the new inmate is often in a state of shock. In such circumstances he may think, "Maybe God can help me. Nothing else has worked so far."

Written, I think, without a trace of irony.