Last week’s news of Riker’s Island Prison Chaplain, Rabbi Leib Glanz, arranging a lavish bar-mitzvah party behind bars and a variety of other special privileges, for a Jewish felon was not to be outdone by Glanz’ boss, Imam Umar Abdul Jalil. While Rabbi Glanz was busy taking care of “his own”, the Imam was doing the exact same thing, in this case for rapper Foxy Brown.
I have no idea if Brown is Muslim, indicated that she was interested in converting, or if the Imam was just looking for a little star-power to enhance his image, but as one prison official stated, “It’s just out of control”. Rich and powerful people have been getting better treatment in prison for years, but the fact that those assuring it are chaplains is so wrong, it’s hard to know where to begin.

Perhaps was most disturbing is the use of religious authority to secure personal favors. Perhaps it’s the fact that these chaplains, charged with serving the entire prison population are playing to the ugliest tribal and ethnocentric urges which already animate both that population and, apparently, the chaplains own souls. Perhaps it’s the abuse of public trust which they are charged to maintain.
Whatever it is, it is up to both the city AND members of their own religious communities to take these characters down. In that sense, the issue is not simply how their bosses in government respond, but how their communities respond. While these missteps should not disqualify either man from ongoing spiritual leadership roles, it is clear that those same missteps must be addressed — the underlying thinking which makes it acceptable to break the rules under which we all live, for those who share our beliefs is a serious question and anyone with both real power and religious authority must address it.