Anti-Terror Law Requires God be Acknowledged
It sounds like a joke, but it appears to be authentic. It’s hard to imagine that Kentucky has to – by law – perform it’s religious duties before another anti-terrorism duties. I would be interested to hear what exactly that involves and what is expected to follow the religious duties. In any event, no matter what the details, this in my mind is a clear violation of the separation between church and state, something that needs to be defended more than ever.
Under state law, God is Kentucky’s first line of defense against terrorism.
The 2006 law organizing the state Office of Homeland Security lists its initial duty as “stressing the dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth.”
Specifically, Homeland Security is ordered to publicize God’s benevolent protection in its reports, and it must post a plaque at the entrance to the state Emergency Operations Center with an 88-word statement that begins, “The safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God.”
State Rep. Tom Riner, a Southern Baptist minister, tucked the God provision into Homeland Security legislation as a floor amendment that lawmakers overwhelmingly approved two years ago.
As amended, Homeland Security’s religious duties now come before all else, including its distribution of millions of dollars in federal grants and its analysis of possible threats.
The original story from the Lexington News.
Updated: 02Dec08
The American Atheists and ten Kentucky residents are suing the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security on the basis that the above law constitutes a violation of the separation of church and state as stipulated by the establishment clause of the first amendment to the US Constitution, as given below:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
From the American Atheists Blog:
Ten Kentucky residents and the national American Atheists Inc. are suing to overturn Kentucky legislation “stressing the dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth.”
The suit says the legislation, passed with little notice in 2006 to create the Kentucky Office ofHomeland Security, is “grossly, and outrageously, at variance with” with Kentucky and U.S. constitutional bans on government-sponsored religion.
In addition to seeking to have the legislation overturned, the plaintiffs are seeking financial damages, saying they “suffer anxiety from the belief that the existence of these unconstitutional laws suggest that their very safety as residents of Kentucky may be in the hands of fanatics, traitors, or fools.”
At issue are two clauses inserted in a floor amendment by state Rep. Tom Riner, D-Louisville, and approved by lawmakers.
One clause says the “safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God” and cites statements to that effect by Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy.
A permanent plaque quoting that text is posted at the state’s Emergency Operations Center, as required by the clause.
The other clause, listing the executive director’s duties, begins with a requirement to publicize “the dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth.”
Edwin Kagin — an attorney in Union, Ky., who also is the national legal director of American Atheists — said he mailed the lawsuit to Franklin Circuit Court overnight and expects it to be filed today.
