Way to go, California.
In yet another bizarre move, the state has trampled all over the First Amendment … this time, with regards to what people are allowed to say when they pray.
That’s right: pray.
Denny and JC Cooper recently received a very rude wakeup call in the city of Carlsbad, as apparently city officials took offense to the fact that the Coopers invoke the name of Jesus in their prayers with public officials, as they have done for the last several years.
Denny is a baseball coach and gym teacher, and he has served as a volunteer chaplain with the city’s fire department for 18 years.
His son, JC, is a pastor at Mission Church who has also been ministering to residents across Carlsbad for several years.
JC has also volunteered as a chaplain for the Carlsbad Police Department over the last six years.
Naturally, JC would be invoking the name of Jesus in his prayers with public officials, which his services are requested.
Apparently, Scott Chadwick, a so-called “city manager” for Carlsbad, does not like that at all, and he intervened in the Coopers’ prayer efforts to order them to stop praying in a certain way.
As reported by The Blaze, Chadwick informed JC and Police Chief Christie Calderwood that any reference to Jesus in prayer “was considered harassment, created a hostile work environment, and lifted one religion above another.”
Calderwood subsequently ordered the Coopers to stop mentioning the name of Jesus when praying Christian prayers.
Which is when First Liberty Institute, a legal nonprofit dedicated to protecting religious liberties, intervened, making it rather clear that California “officials” have blatantly misunderstood the laws regarding religious freedom of expression, especially in voluntary settings.
In a pointed letter, First Liberty Institute made its position clear: that California city officials need to back down.
“We urge you to revoke the City Manager’s recent order that longtime fire chaplain Denny Cooper and police chaplain JC Cooper (‘the Chaplains’) cease praying in the name of Jesus. It is our understanding that this swift and dramatic change was made without consideration or a vote by the City Council,” the organization asserted.
“Swift and dramatic change” … without a vote. Sound familiar?
“Police Chief Christie Calderwood told JC that the City Council had decided that he could no longer pray in Jesus’ name, and that he could use any other name he wanted as long as it was not ‘Jesus,’” First Liberty Institute noted.
In other words, Calderwood was afraid of Chadwick, as Chadwick, like most woke Dems, presumes both authority and knowledge, neither of which he has in a case like this.
“The City Manager misunderstands the law concerning public chaplains and invocations, and we urge the City Council to revisit the decision to censor the Chaplains’ prayers,” First Liberty Institute added.
Indeed, he does. And one can only hope Chadwick will revisit his position following the letter from First Liberty Institute.
In particular since the organization already has won more than one case before the Supreme Court.
Which makes First Liberty Institute’s concluding remarks even more amusing, as well as wholly true.
“The potential for offense is irrelevant,” the letter declared.
Indeed, it is.
Especially when everything is “offensive” to the woke these days.
First Liberty Institute also noted that Chadwick’s position is “legally problematic,” given that it attempts “to equate simple expressions of faith to workplace harassment.”
Frankly, pretty much everything the Dems have done is “legally problematic,” starting with basic security of the border.
But it’s nice to see them facing blowback for daring to interfere in people’s right to pray.
Author: Jane Jones
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