Of Dogs and Lions

As my son flits around Europe on Spring Break, his girl friend Erin decided to go on a mission with other Wheaton College students to the largest maximum-security prison in the US, the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

If you are not familiar with this prison, here are some details. Angola has, or did have, a reputation as being the most dangerous prison in the U.S. Murders inside the prison occurred at the rate of about two a month, serious injuries at about three a day and the living conditions were so bad it was under a federal court order to improve. In Louisiana a life sentence means just that, a life sentence. No parole. Many inmates are in their seventies and eighties. One old boy is 89. He was sent to Angola when he was 15. They aren’t kidding about life sentences. There is a graveyard on the property where inmates who die at Angola are buried if unclaimed by relatives. Even the dead don’t leave this prison. Escapes are rare too. The current Warden, a reformer, is quoted, “If you run we’re gunna shoot y’all. Its’ the law.” Death of another kind is present at Angola: capital punishment. There are 83 men on death-row. Recently the movie, Dead Man Walking, told the story of Sister Helen Prejean and condemned murderer Robert Lee Willie, an inmate at Angola.

After many decades of reform attempts, Angola has made some progress. Among the contributing factors is the introduction of many different Christian prison ministries with the warden’s encouragement. He has a relationship with Wheaton College in that he speaks at the college chapel on occasion and allows Wheaton students to visit in ministry teams.

When Erin called us, safely back in her Wheaton apartment, she told us sobering details of her experiences but also inspiring stories of the Christian inmates she met there. One prisoner under a life sentence, Eugene Tannehill, has been in Angola for 38 years. Now a fire-and-brimstone preacher, he is nicknamed the “Bishop” and spends his time preaching and teaching the gospel to other inmates. "Your life's not finished just because you're in Angola," he says.

I am reminded of a bible verse, Ecclesiastes 9:4, which says, “Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!” (In ancient Hebrew culture it seems that dogs were detestable.) I guess a paraphrase would be that it’s better to be the lowest scum of the earth and alive than be a dead king or potentate or rich man. At the end of all the fun and the silliness of this blog, I remain very glad that Peter Mooney, our lovable washed-up adman, is still alive and kicking and walking around on planet earth.