Beliefwatch: Got Faith?

Newsweek, June, 2007 by Julia Baird

Three weeks ago, while preparing to go to jail, Paris Hilton sauntered out her front door with a Bible tucked under her arm--facing outward so the cover would be clearly visible. So it wasn't a shock that it took just three days in prison before Hilton found God. She told Barbara Walters that she had "become more spiritual" and that God had given her a second chance.

There's a long tradition of jailhouse conversions; many are temporary, aimed at gaining leniency from judges, while others seem genuine. Malcolm X discovered Islam while in a Massachusetts state prison. Oklahoma-bombing conspirator Terry Nichols claimed to have worn out four Bibles during his trial, and serial killer David Berkowitz--Son of Sam--converted from Judaism after an inmate told him Jesus Christ...

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