transcendental meditation for prisoners

I provided all my sources that I retrieved information from, I just didn't number everything and I will make sure to do that better in the future. The TM program website is not stating anything that hasn't been researched by unbiased sources. This is from the site: "More than 600 scientific studies verifying the wide-ranging benefits of the Transcendental Meditation technique have been conducted at 250  independent universities and medical schools in 33 countries during the past 40 years." It's a big claim to say all these studies are biased. You are correct in the fact that the good solid research of TM just shows regular relaxation. However, you have yet to refute how regular relaxation does not help improve one's health. Con- It is most likely that the benefits of TM my opponent describes are not from TM itself. It is probably just an internal belief that makes relaxation apparent. Refute It is most likely that the benefits of TM my opponent describes are not from TM itself. It is probably just an internal belief that makes relaxation apparent. The Con has not refuted TM's good use, actually he supported it. TM does help a person by changing their internal belief. That is where problems arise from, and bad internal beliefs are the reason why many prisoners got into their situation. By changing internal beliefs and relaxing, life changing events can occur. My opponent also focuses on a minute details about health benefits of TM, which are distracting from the main argument of this debate. Prisoners do not need to be cured of heart disease, they need coping skills and personal growth. He attacks my arguments for plagiarism and calls that a refute, when in fact the information has not been refuted, just ridiculed. Therefore, I have yet to hear why TM is unsafe and of no positive use to prisoners. I would like my opponent to refute why relaxation would be bad for the mind of someone who lives with negative emotions and poor judgement. Many times inmates suffer from anxiety and depression that can be helped by quieting the mind and learning relaxation techniques. TM provides this in an easy and cheap way. No one is saying that this is going to create world peace and miracles will happen to your health. But Con has yet to refute why this relaxation method should not be mandatory. TM has not been ruled a religion in the United States, just once 27 years ago in one state. Plus, the US government has determined that TM is a religion or a cult. In Malnak v Yogi, the US courts determined that TM is religious under the establishment clause. It was ruled unconstitutional to teach TM to students in high schools because it violated the separation of church and state. If it is illegal to do it in schools because it violates the separation of church and state, making TM mandatory in prisons would have the same consequence: it's unconstitutional. Refute I will address and refute your claim that TM is a cult. There is only one case in NJ that claimed it was unconstitutional to have TM in schools due to religious conflict. It never claimed to be a cult. Never elsewhere has anyone come to this conclusion that TM interferes with religion. You have not provided any evidence of one court that ruled that TM is a religious cult. This is an Appeal to Ridicule. Just because one bad claim was mentioned against TM, you therefore claim TM to be morally wrong. This is fallacious. One claim does not automatically make TM a cult, a religion, or bad. Conclusion By working on emotions that cause unwanted behaviors, TM will help prisoners become more aware in their life and is a complementary aspect in their Rehab.