Charles Colson's Guilty To Go To Prison

Born Again Would you be willing to go to prison, even if you knew you were innocent? Charles Colson decided to answer yes. A break-in at the Watergate building in Washington, D.C. in the 1970s made many people question the president and his staff. As Special Counsel to the president, Colson came under heavy fire from the press. Eventually he found a way to persevere by accepting Jesus Christ as his savior. However, he believed he could not truly be a Christian until he placed his very ungodly past behind him. To do this he pleaded guilty to something that was not even a crime, and received a 1-3 year prison sentence. While the affirmative and negative sides can agree that Colson could have gotten away without a prison sentence they

As the president's right hand man, he did things that were far from Christ-like. He often worked to scum up the reputation of the president's political rivals and shine light on the best parts of the president's political friends. Due to the amount of dirty work Colson handled the press gave him the nickname "hatchet man". However, after his redemption, Charles felt he needed to show he regretted his actions. This could only be done, he felt, by accepting whatever punishment the court would give. Colson also felt that God called him to go to prison so he could change lives and start

As mentioned before Charles, like a shepherd leading his sheep, guided many lost souls home to Jesus Christ. He also strengthened his wife's faith. The two then came together as never before and endured the strain of Colson's prison sentence. However, they did not have to endure it forever as he got out in less than two years. After enduring time in the dark the Colsons found themselves closer than ever to God. So after an eighteen month prison sentence, Colson had not only the life he had before, but an infinitely better one. Nevertheless, there are still some who believe Charles Colson needed to simply walk away. Their first argument is that he clearly would have been found innocent. He knew nothing of the crime until after it happened. He did not plan it nor let it happen. Unfortunately Colson still felt that God wanted him to plead guilty. For the second argument light is thrown upon Colson's family strains. He could not be at his father's side when his father passed away. His son had a problem with selling drugs and Colson's wife, Patty, strained herself by making several trips to see him. In the end Colson could still attend his dad's funeral and being home may not have changed his family's situation as he would not have been right with God. Plus, as shown before, the Colson and his wife came out of this dark time stronger than ever