It would seem Odd to Say Our Prisons should be Places of Love

  The harsh chemical of hate is not needed in our prisons and correctional facilities.
   This is not to say hatred of what they have done is not appropriate, and not to say expressing that hatred to them is not appropriate. It is not to say sternness and rebuking are not appropriate.
  Those things, as well, need to be part of our rehabilitation system. But, when the day is over, the prisoner should feel some love. There is no wrecked life that is going to be corrected without love. If our prisons are ever to be about rehabilitation, they must also be about love.
   What is the phrase? "I don't care how much you know, until I know how much you care." A person doesn't respond -- not to any teaching or correcting or guiding -- until you have reached them, until you have connected with them.
   And, you don't make that connection without love.
   It would seem odd to say our prisons should be places of love, but I'm saying it. If love is the catalyst for correction, then perhaps of all places, our prisons should be filled with love.