Monday 25 June 2018

Review Of Naked As A Jailbird

By Jennifer Graham


The world views priests as the mouthpiece of God on earth. They are supposed to be close and take care of the poor and less privileged. Naked as a Jailbird is an attempt by Richard Shaw to demonstrate how the church, its leaders and the society should view persons in jail. In this narrative, he shares his expectations and experiences as a chaplain in jail.

The message is clearly captured in the title. This title is an imagery of what happens in jail. Immediately one gets to prison, his clothes are taken away, leaving him naked. He has no title and his dignity is also gone. He does not enjoy even mere privacy. This is the nakedness referred to in the title. It refers to lack or the emptiness that comes with imprisonment.

There is an element of nakedness that comes with being in prison, whether you are a prisoner or officer. This takes away the human element in the people because they are restricted to following a routine that does not grant them any freedom. For Shaw, the experience was a lesson he never thought of since learning appears to be confined to childhood. Despite being referred to as Father, he had a lot to learn from his role as a chaplain.

Another interesting perspective to get from this narrative is the treatment of church and religious leaders on wealth. In his words, the author says that churches and their leaders should have a maximum of 85cents in their accounts. They must agree to be used as vessels to alleviate the lives of the poor in society. Amassing wealth should not be part of their attribute in whichever way.

The vow of poverty that priests take should remain as the guiding principle. Amassing wealth means that they can no longer identify with the plight of these poor people. Wealth becomes a distraction. It is upon priests to take on the human side and become easier to relate for the poor in society. The priest will alleviate the lives of poor and needy people in the society.

It is rare to think of prisoners unless you have a friend or relative incarcerated. The method of narration by Richard Shaw is a sharing of the experience behind bars. It becomes easier to understand the life and experience behind bar beyond considering everyone a criminal. There are humans with feelings and desires like me and you.

Jail is not made of just the prisoners. There are workers of different classes who are affected by the conditions behind bars. How does this environment affect their human side and interactions with other people? All this information is captured in this narrative by Shaw. You have a chance to read into their thoughts and experiences. You will develop a different idea of prison life.

The book narrates about the intersection between prison and religious life. It is difficult to put the book down once you begin to read it. It is a demonstration of the passion with which Shaw has held his priestly vocation and how he is using it to transform the life of people he comes into contact with. The author calls on readers to recognize the contributions of different people in alleviating the lives of down trodden persons in the society.




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