The police department in Opp, Alabama is promoting Christianity. They’re doing it openly. They’re doing it in ALL CAPS (because Jesus wouldn’t have it any other way). And after two days, they still haven’t deleted the smoking gun from their social media.
See if you can find the clues in this Facebook post from Tuesday morning:
Update: They have removed the post, but here’s the screenshot:
THIS PAST SUNDAY, A YOUNG MAN WAS SHOT AND KILLED IN KINSTON. MONDAY NIGHT, A MOTHER WAS SHOT AND KILLED IN NORTHERN COVINGTON COUNTY. THERE HAVE BEEN FIVE MURDERS IN COVINGTON COUNTY IN 2018. THESE MURDERS HAVE BEEN DONE BY OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. THIS IS HAPPENING BECAUSE WE HAVE TURNED AWAY FROM GOD AND EMBRACED SATAN. WE MAY HAVE NOT MEANT TO DO SO BUT, WE HAVE. IT IS TIME TO ASK FOR GOD’S HELP TO STOP THIS…
You know things are bad when the police effectively tell the community they’re powerless in the face of danger and tell everyone to call God instead…
It’s also disturbing that they blame Satan — or, presumably, non-Christians — for a slew of murders. Not the shooters. Not the access to weapons. Just the devil.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is now calling for a retraction in a letter to the Chief of Police Michael McDonald.
Comments FFRF Associate Counsel Sam Grover: “The department has very directly endorsed one religious ideology to the exclusion of minority religions and atheism, and decried Satanism. Neither message is permissible.”
FFRF’s letter challenges the police department’s faulty assumptions and stereotypes regarding atheists. “It is negligent for the department to spread a message of prejudice against those who choose not to believe in or worship a god. The department certainly has no data to support its theory that a rise in violent crime is caused by those choosing to turn away from god belief. Numerous scientific studies prove otherwise.”
…
“It is the height of hypocrisy to call for a reduction in crime through an act that itself breaks the law,” FFRF contends.
FFRF is asking that the police department retract the portion of its post that decries nonbelief (and Satanism) while promoting god belief.
“Police officers take an oath to protect and serve all citizens, including those who practice a minority religion or no religion at all,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “This inappropriate post sends a chilling message to non-Christians and non-believers that they are presumed guilty.”
The letter actually goes into more facts about how the least religious countries in the world are also the ones with the lowest rates of violent crime, the least intolerance directed at racial/ethnic minorities, and the most peaceful.
So unless God is taking over the department, or unless Satan fesses up to these crimes, these officials should do their job instead of using their official platforms to promote their faith.
By the way, while the ALL CAPS crazy person post seems very different from their regular ones, praising God isn’t new, as you can see in their other posts from just this month:
Whoever runs this department’s social media has no idea what church/state separation is. Maybe that person should talk to someone who knows the law. In theory, that person would be just a cubicle away.
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