Josué: Prisoner at Shalem: The Story of a Religious Revolutionary

JOSUE: PRISONER AT

SHALEM

The Story of a Religious Revolutionary

Steven H. Propp

iUniverse, Inc.

New York Lincoln Shanghai

Josué: Prisoner At Shalem

Copyright © 2005 by Steven H. Propp

The Story of a Religious Revolutionary

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Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PRELUDE—JARON

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

POSTLUDE—AND WAS BURIED?

POSTSCRIPT

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX B

APPENDIX C

To Nancy: the light and love of my life,

and my sweetheart forever;

and also…my beautiful wife.

To all the people who have written indispensible reference materials about religion,

that the rest of us can just take up and use; I am awed by your industry…

To all the prisoners, prison guards, and prison administrators;

May there be another way, someday…

And to anyone who understands what I am trying to do in this book.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

With love and gratitude for the help and support of:

My brother-in-law Darrel Buzynski; My irreplaceable and always loved big sister Susan; My niece (and UC Davis graduate) Jennifer; My favorite nephew and college guy Jason; My best buddy Devonte,

my little partner Joseph, and mi amigo Dominic; And all the rest of Nancy’s and my fantastic, diverse, and unique family.

A special thanks to all my friends at work, for your readership, encouragement, and understanding.

And in memory of Dorothy S. Propp (1925-2003),

Who lives on, in at least one sense…and probably more…

NOTE: Most English speakers would pronounce the name Josue as ho-SWAY.

ISLAMIC (Arabic) TERMS USED

al-Nar—Hell.

Ayatullah—Sign of God; scholar, Shi’a cleric.

Dajjal—Antichrist, will be destroyed by the Mahdi and Jesus.

Eid al-Fitr—the Muslim Festival of Fast-Breaking.

Iblis—Devil, Satan; father of the evil Jinn.

Imam—Respected scholar, who leads congregation in Friday worship services. Janazah—funeral prayers. Jinn—demonic spirits.

Khul—divorce (female-initiated). Khutbah—message at Friday service.

Mahdi—messianic figure at end of time who will unite the Muslim nations against the Dajjal.

Masjid—mosque; place of worship.

Minbar—pulpit in mosque.

Qur’an—Muslim holy book.

Ramadan—month in which fasting is required from sunup to sundown.

Salat—prayer; performed five times daily.

Salat al-Juma (or just Juma)—Friday worship service.

Sariqah—theft. Sawm—fasting.

Talaq—divorce (male-initiated). Zakat—2 1/2% (1/40th) almsgiving.

The reader of this book is asked to make a huge imaginary assumption before beginning reading: Suppose that Christianity had not yet appeared on Earth,

and that Islam was the majority religion of the world?Perhaps something like this would happen.

PRELUDE—JARON

*** (Mk 1:2-8, Mt 3:1-12, Lk 3:1-18)

Jaron looked like a wild man; he never shaved, and never took a shower—preferring to wash himself at the sink in his prison cell. Some of the other inmates in Shalem State Prison took considerable pride in their appearance—always keeping their workshirts and jeans impeccably cleaned and pressed—but Jaron wasn’t one of those cons. His simple prison outfit always looked sloppy on him, as if he didn’t really care what he looked like.

He was definitely a religious fanatic, but he wasn’t a Muslim (the professed religion of half the world, as well as by far the largest religious group in prison), or even a member of their much smaller but more influential rival, the Nation of Islam (NOI): Jaron was a Jew, which was pretty unusual inside the joint. The population at Shalem was about evenly split between Black, White, and Latino, with growing groups of Asians and Middle-Easterners, but there were hardly any Jews. (Or at least, none who would admit it, in this pro-Muslim environment.) Jews usually had good lawyers who, if they couldn’t get their clients off entirely, managed to get them into one of those soft federal prisons, and not a maximum-security state prison like Shalem.

Jaron didn’t eat most of the food they served in the dining hall, either: he wouldn’t eat any red meat—only fish and vegetables, and bread that he spread with natural honey that he bought himself at the prison commissary. But the strangest thing about him wasn’t his dress, or what he ate: it was how he spent his daily exercise hour in the afternoon. Most of the inmates walked around the yard; lifted weights; played hoops, card games or checkers; or just sat around in small groups and talked about the same old things again and again. Jaron, on the other hand, took to spending the entire hour standing on the bleachers and exhorting the other inmates about God (he refused to use the term Allah, that the Muslims use for God), telling them, Turn your lives around now, because God’s kingdom is almost here!

Some of the cons gave him an insulting nickname that stuck: the Splasher. He got this name because whenever he found cons who took him seriously and were willing to stand up in front of everybody and admit that they’d been bad boys, but that they now wanted to turn their lives around, Jaron would bring them up and make a big fuss over them, and then slowly pour a cup of water right over the top of their heads, telling them that this showed how their sins before God were being washed away, and that they were now forgiven by God. It was a pretty strange routine that cracked up most cons the first few times they saw it, but it was actually amazing to see even some real hard-core cons standing up in front of everyone (sometimes with tears pouring down their faces), telling everyone how sinful they’d been and how sorry they were about it, after which Jaron would smile and then splash them. You’d almost think the cons undergoing this procedure would have felt really stupid afterwards—going to dinner, or back to their cells, with their hair and shirt still dripping wet—but it didn’t seem to bother them; in fact, some of them seemed to have really been affected by the splashing experience.

Before too long, Jaron had even gathered a small group of supporters around himself, which got the guards’ attention right away. Jaron’s group never did anything out of line, though; in fact, some of the former hard-core cons who had joined his little group cleaned their acts up immediately, and had spotless records from that point forward. The guards felt like they had a kind of uneasy truce with Jaron and his followers, although they always kept an eye on him for signs that he might be trying to start a rebellion in the prison, or something like that.

The Muslim leaders in the joint just laughed at Jaron and tried to convince everyone to ignore him, but you’ve got to give Jaron credit: he didn’t back down from the Muslims at all. For example, one day some Muslims and NOI members came up to him pretending like they wanted to get splashed, but he refused to do it. You dirty snakes! he shouted at them. "Who tipped you off to try and hide from God’s judgment? If you’re serious about turning your lives around, then you should first do the things that will show you’ve really changed! Naturally, being put down in public like this got the Muslims mad at him, but Jaron kept up his attack, adding, And don’t even think about claiming, ‘Only we are the true sons of Muhammad’—believe me, God can pick up rocks from the dirt here and just as easily make ‘sons of Muhammad’ out of them! God is ready to chop down the whole forest, and when he does, he’ll send the good wood off to the mill, but all the dead wood will be burned up!"

A con called out to Jaron, What should we do, then?

He replied, If you’ve got anything extra, like food or items from the commissary, give them to someone who needs them.

Some of the inmate trustees came forward (all the other cons hate trustees, because they’re viewed as sellouts, willing to do anything to get special privileges from the guards) and asked to get splashed, and then asked Jaron what he thought they should do.

He simply replied, Don’t use your special influence to rip anybody off.

Eventually, some of the guards tried to make fun of Jaron by pretending to ask him what he thought they should do (as if a badge would ever listen to any advice a con had to give), but he shot back at them, Stop beating up prisoners that cross you, and then lying for each other to cover it up! And quit taking bribes—just be satisfied with the salary they pay you! You could tell those guards were really upset with Jaron for embarrassing them in front of everyone with a reply like that, but they just pretended to laugh at him, and walked away.

Since most cons have nothing much to do all day except talk, a lot of them started talking about Jaron. A few even suggested in whispers that Jaron might actually be the Liberator: the revolutionary leader who was going to appear one day and set all the cons free—not just here at Shalem, but in prisons across the whole state, and maybe even the whole country.

One of the Old Head convicts (those who had been in the joint for decades) said confidently to a group while they were working, When the Liberator comes, he’s gonna kick the Warden and all the guards outta here, so we’ll be able to run this place ourselves. He’ll be smart, though; he’ll make us keep the prison industries running, only he’ll let us divvy up the profits fairly among ourselves.

Man, you crazy; ain’t no ‘Liberator’ gonna come and free nobody, a younger inmate named Zelot replied cynically. How he s’pozed to do that? You think he just gon’ point his finger at them hacks up in the gun tower and behind the gates, and they gon’ fall down dead? You dreamin’, old man! he added with a laugh, but then added seriously, "The only way things gon’ change around here is if we get ourselves organized, steal us some guns, and start shootin’ ‘til we get us some respect!"

You’re the crazy one, if you think we’d ever be able to get enough firepower together to challenge the guards, the Old Head replied with a smirk.

Well, then, if you so smart, tell me how your ‘Liberator’ gonna do anything that ain’t gon’ get smashed down soon’s the Governor call down the National Guard? Zelot shot back. The Old Head was silent, unable to come up with an answer.

Another inmate suggested thoughtfully, I think the way it will happen is that the Liberator will lead us in a successful surprise uprising. Then quickly, while the authorities are still trying to decide what to do about us, he’ll get the word out to other prisons about what we did and how, and it will ignite a lot of similar revolts in prisons across the country. That will keep the authorities from being able to focus on us, so we can negotiate with the Governor directly. He mused in silence for a moment, and then added, The Governor will still want to just send in the Guard, naturally, but I think that the Liberator can probably cut a deal with him.

That’s stupid talk, Zelot scoffed. "No one gonna make no deals with us! They’ll be droppin’ bombs on us, first!"

The Liberator’s still going to have two aces up his sleeve: One, we’ll have the guards and all the civilian workers as hostages; Two, if we don’t get our way, we’ll just burn this very expensive prison down to the ground! With the current State budget, they can’t afford to build another one, the thoughtful inmate replied. But I think the Liberator would be able to persuade them if he told them that we’re all willing to serve out our sentences here—first we’d get rid of indeterminate sentencing, though, so every con would know exactly how long his sentence was, he added. Enthusiastically, he continued, "But if we were running this whole operation ourselves, we could not only save the State a lot of money they’re using to pay the guards, but we’d actually bring in more revenue, because the inmates would finally have some incentive to work! He smiled and leaned back against a table, enjoying the contemplation of his own ideas. Think of it: All of us slack off on our jobs all day, but we still make a lot of money for the State. Well, suppose that instead of paying us thirteen cents an hour, they gave us room and board and a fair wage, plus a share of the profits we generate? Our productivity would shoot through the roof!"

The Old Head inmate nodded his agreement, while Zelot just shook his head and laughed again. Man, you’re nuts, he said, snorting his disgust. They wouldn’t need to deal with no ‘Liberator,’ ‘cause they could just cut off our supplies and starve us out!

They’d starve their own guards, as well as the civilian personnel, the thoughtful inmate replied. After a trial period, I think the authorities would see that they’re better off letting us run our own operation under the Liberator’s direction, than risking lives by trying to take the prison back by force.

I can’t wait! another con agreed. Them hacks can’t keep us down forever—not when we outnumber them 20 to one in here!

The Old Head turned to an inmate known as Q who was (as always) jotting stuff down in his notebook, and asked him, What do you think, Q?

Q shrugged his shoulders and said, Well, I think it ain’t gonna happen. This whole idea of some ‘Liberator’ coming to save us all is just a myth—a fantasy, wish-fulfillment; something cons dreamt up to keep themselves from buggin’ out in here.

The Old Head looked indignant and said, "No, you’re wrong this time, Q. Ever since I’ve been in the joint, it’s been known that the Liberator is coming. The only question is, when?"

The thoughtful inmate nodded at Q and admitted, No, Q and Zel are probably right; there isn’t any man that could come in here and do what we’re hoping this ‘Liberator’ is going to do for us. Then he grinned, and added, "Still, you’ve got to admit that when the guards are hassling you, threatening to give you a shot or send you to the Hole for something you didn’t do, it really helps to be able to look into their smug faces and think, ‘Go ahead and laugh, you grinning monkey; one day, the Liberator’s gonna tear down this prison and every other prison like it—and scumbags like you are gonna be left hangin’!"This brought a roar of appreciative laughter from the group.

When these rumors about Jaron being the Liberator got back to Jaron himself, he emphatically denied it. (Of course, the real Liberator would obviously never admit it publicly until the time was right anyway, so his denial didn’t mean anything.) Jaron shook his head and said firmly, "I pour water over you because of your change of heart, but there’s someone else coming—believe me, I’m not even good enough to tie his shoes!—who won’t just pour a cup of water on you; instead, he’ll drench you with God’s Spirit, and with fire! He lifted up his fist dramatically, and said, It’ll be like he’s pushing around a PowerVac that he uses to suck up and save everything that’s worthwhile; but everything that’s worthless, he’ll toss it into a fire that won’t ever stop!"

This hardline aspect of Jaron’s message started to turn a lot of people off, but some people still liked to listen to him during the exercise period, and there were still some cons who went up to him and let him do his splashing thing on them.

Josué was one of the ones who went forward to get splashed.

CHAPTER 1

JOSUÉ

*** (Mk 1:9-11, Mt 3:13-17, Lk 3:21-22)

Josué wasn’t exactly known around the prison as the religious type, although he went to the religious services that the Muslims held every Friday at noon—called Salat al-Juma—on a regular basis. (Going to Juma didn’t necessarily mean you were religious; some cons who weren’t Muslims went just to get out of their cells or off their work assignments for an hour, while others went so they could deal contraband in the back of the room, since the guards were well paid not to watch the inmates so carefully during the service.) So when Josué accepted Jaron’s general invitation during the exercise period one day and went forward to get splashed, it was surprising to most cons who saw it.

Josué didn’t make a big tearful speech about how bad he’d been, though, like a lot of the cons who eventually joined Jaron’s group did. (In fact, it looked like he and Jaron exchanged some quiet words before Josué got splashed, but no one was close enough to hear what they said.) Then Josué just closed his eyes, as Jaron slowly poured a cup of water over his head. Afterwards, Josué looked like he was in a daze, and he wandered off and sat on the bleachers all by himself, with water dripping from his long black hair and beard. He just stared aimlessly into the sky, without talking to anyone.

When the horn sounded, indicating that the exercise period was over, all of the cons lined up to go inside to dinner—except Josué; he just continued sitting on the bleachers and looking upward, as if the horn hadn’t gone off.

Naturally, this immediately drew the attention of the guards, who yelled at him to join the others in line, but Josué acted as if he hadn’t heard, and just sat there. The guards shrugged their shoulders, not knowing what to do. (Josué had always had a clean record during his time at Shalem, and his refusal to obey a direct order was very puzzling.) Finally, a guard who was one of the meanest goons in the whole prison walked over to Josué pounding his palm with a club, and said harshly, "Listen, you stupid Mexican son of a bitch: you just earned yourself a writeup. Now if you don’t want to get another shot, or something even worse, you get your brown ass in that line right now—comprender?"

Amazingly, Josué still didn’t move, or even answer the guard back; it was almost like he couldn’t see or hear him, as he just sat there staring into space. So the goon grinned evilly and said, "Have it your way, amigo," then he grabbed Josué roughly around the neck with his club, and he and another guard dragged Josué away.

This surprising confrontation became a favorite topic of conversation among cons in the Block during the evening meal, and most expressed surprise: Josué had been at Shalem for a while, but he’d never really gotten into trouble with the guards before. The word on him was that he was kind ofa loner (he never seemed to get any visits from family or friends) who was content to do his own time; but he also had a rep as a standup guy, and definitely not a bitch or a snitch.

As the meal period was coming to an end, a trustee wandered into the dining room and announced casually, They just gave Josué 20 days in the Hole. Cons whistled at this news, figuring that Josué must have done something else that really ticked off the guards, because 20 days is way too long for such a minor offense as not lining up when the horn sounded.

No one knew whether it was his getting splashed by Jaron, or something the guards said or did to him, but something must have happened to Josué, because the word was that he went on a hunger strike as soon as they put him in the Hole, and he wouldn’t talk to a soul for the full 20 days. And even more amazingly, when the guards finally came to let him out, they ended up giving him another 20 days (no one could find out what he said to them to earn this), and he apparently kept up his hunger strike the whole time. When they finally took him out at the end of his second turn, he was so weak he couldn’t walk, and the guards had to drag him back to his cell, and throw him on his bunk.

Josué stayed quietly in his cell for a few days recuperating, not talking to anyone except maybe his cellmate Jude. He didn’t try to join up with Jaron’s followers, though; he just stayed in his cell and read the Bible that the Jews use. When it came time for him to return to his normal work assignment, however, he abruptly decided to quit it, which raised some eyebrows around the joint. Josué had some skills as a carpenter, so his job had been doing carpentry and mainte-nance work around the prison, which paid two or three times as much as what most cons made on their jobs. Without a job, Josué had no income to buy food at the prison commissary, so he had no alternative to eating whatever garbage they served in the dining hall each and every day.

But it didn’t seem to bother him; except for meals, he just stayed in his cell, reading that Jewish Bible, and getting his strength back.

*** (Lk 3:19-20, Mk 1:14-15, Mt 4:12-17)

While Josué had been in solitary, Jaron got himself into serious trouble for insulting Associate Warden Harrad and his hot new wife. (She had divorced Harrad’s stepbrother just two months before she married Harrad, so they obviously had something going on before her divorce!) Harrad liked to bring her to work, and parade her around in front of his guards and the inmates (as if to boast, Look what I got!), who watched her through the protective chain link fence, making suggestive comments (that she actually seemed to enjoy) as she pranced around in her hot pants and high heel boots. One day when Harrad was proudly walking with her inside the gated area by the entrance during the afternoon exercise hour, Jaron pointed to them and shouted out that Harrad looked like "apimp with his new whore!" Harrad was naturally furious at being publicly insulted in front of his wife and everyone else, so he had his guards beat Jaron up pretty good, and took him out of General Population and tossed him into Protective Custody, and threw away the key. (PC is where they put inmates like snitches and baby rapers, who might get killed by the other cons if they were in G.P.) In PC, Jaron couldn’t have any regular contact with other inmates at all, which meant that his splashing days were over. The people most upset at this were Jaron’s gang—the little group he’d gathered about him, who followed him around everywhere. But even though they could no longer communicate directly with Jaron, they still stuck together as a group, and occasionally were able to slip messages to and from him.

The guards and prison officials were definitely relieved to see Jaron out of circulation. They probably felt like they would finally get a break from religious nuts haranguing everyone during the daily exercise periods.

But they didn’t—because the first time after his 40 days in solitary that Josué left his cell and went out into the yard with the other cons, Josué stood on the bleachers across from where Jaron used to stand and said, "The time has come, and God’s New Order is practically here; turn your lives around, and believe the Word!" ***

There was nothing special about Josué’s appearance: he was Mexican, with the dark skin of someone who worked out in the sun a lot; he wore his black hair long (usually tying it up in a ponytail), and had a kind of scraggly beard. He was thinner than usual after being on a hunger strike for so long, but he was tall and well-muscled—the kind of guy most cons would think twice about, before starting up something with him. Even though he hadn’t had much formal educa-tion—his dad had died young, and Josué had to help his mother support the family—he seemed to have a pretty sharp mind.

*** (Lk 4:14-30)

The first Friday after getting out of the Hole, Josué went as usual to the Muslims’ Juma service at noon. His presence there generated some whispered excitement, because most people had heard through the wire that Josué had just started saying things in public like Jaron used to say. (The regular Muslims felt that since they were by far the majority religion in this country as well as inside Shalem, they should be in control of all things in the prison relating to religion. They already had an uneasy relationship with members of the Nation of Islam—who also attended the Juma services—because the NOI, despite their much smaller numbers, had significantly greater influence with the prison officials, and NOI leaders were given much greater freedom within the prison.) The Imam (leader) of the prison Masjid (mosque), however, appeared to coolly ignore all these whisperings, and just led everyone through all the prayers as usual. When it came time for the Imam to give his weekly Khutbah (message), he pretended to suddenly notice Josué sitting in the front row. With a sly smile and exaggerated politeness, he walked over to Josué and said, I understand that you’re now giving your own messages.

This brought a titter of laughter from the others in the room. The Imam continued smiling as he held out a copy of the Qur’an to Josué and said with a straight face, Perhaps you’d like to give the message to us, today? The Imam was obviously just asking this to put Josué on the spot and embarrass him, so he looked surprised when Josué nodded and stood up immediately, turning around to face the entire group, who looked at him with surprise and curiosity.

Josué shook his head at the Imam’s offered copy of the Qur’an, and instead opened his own copy of the Jewish Bible that he had brought with him. Finding the passage he wanted, Josué then read from it in a firm voice, The prophet Isaiah said, ‘The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; He has sent me as a herald of joy to the humble, to bind up the wounded of heart, to proclaim release to the captives, liberation to the imprisoned; to proclaim a year of the Lord’s favor.’ (Isa 61:1-2) Josué then quietly closed his copy of the Bible, amid a buzz of excitement in the room. He waited until every eye in

the room was on him, and then added casually, Today, this scripture has come

true."

The Imam looked shocked, and he quickly consulted with his top assistants; but the other Muslims just stared at Josué, amazed and confused by what he had just said.

But a con who had known Josué ever since he came to Shalem Prison years ago stood up and said insultingly, "This fool just the son of some wetback name José, and now he think that Allah done ‘anointed’ him, like he some kinda prophet? Dat’s bull, man! Allah only got one prophet with the message for us today!" The room fell deadly silent, as they all waited to hear what Josué would say in reply.

Josué remained perfectly calm, and turned to the one who had spoken out and said, You probably want to quote me the old proverb, ‘Doctor, you should cure yourself before you try to cure anyone else!’ Then, you’ll expect me to say in here the same things I’ve said out in the yard. The objector smirked and nodded his head, but Josué continued seriously, "The truth is, no prophet is ever accepted on his own home turf. Remember that in the days of Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings 17:9, 18:1; 2 Ki 5:1-14), the ones who saw their miracles weren’t the people who lived in their home town; no, it was the outsiders, the good and worthy people who came from someplace else, who saw the miracles."

This reply seemed insulting to most of the people in the room (especially the Muslim leaders), and one of them jumped up and shouted, Who you think you are, interrupting our service like this?

Another man shook his fist at Josué and said, You think you can dis us like that and get away with it? We gon’ kill you, fool!

A group of angry men now stood up, and began moving purposefully toward Josué, when the guards at the back of the room finally took notice of what was going on, and they quickly intercepted the angry inmates before they confronted Josué, and ordered them to return to their seats, while one of the other guards quickly hustled Josué out of the room.

Once they were outside the room, the guard shoved Josué roughly against the wall and hissed, Look, I don’t know what the hell’s gotten into you lately, but you’re about to earn yourself another trip to the Hole! Get out of here, before I open up that door and let those Muslims throw you head first off the top tier!

Josué shrugged and began walking away, with his Jewish Bible under his arm, as the guard shouted after him, "And stay away from the Friday Juma services from now on!"

*** (Mk 1:23-28, Lk 4:31-37)

Word travels through the prison grapevine quickly, so by that afternoon’s exercise period, almost everyone had heard about what had taken place at the noontime service.

Aware of an increasing number of eyes on him, Josué took up his now-customary position at the foot of the bleachers, and began to speak his usual message about cons needing to turn their lives around because of what he called the New Order. The other inmates were impressed by how confidently he spoke.

Suddenly, a mentally unstable inmate came running up to Josué shouting, Leave us alone! Why are you bothering us, Josué? Are you here to kill us? The man looked all around wildly, then suddenly turned back to Josué and pointed at him and screamed, We know who you are…you’re Allah’s holy one! Shut up! Josué shouted firmly to the crazed man. Come out of him! As soon as Josué said this, the man screamed and fell down on his face in the dirt before Josué, twitching spasmodically for a few moments, and then he lay still. The astonished inmates watching were shocked into silence.

The guards quickly ran up, to examine the now-unconscious man