Posted on 06/18/2015 3:32:36 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
LAKELAND -- A religious freedom group says Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd broke the law when he gave a sermon at a local church. The sermon was titled, “Wouldn’t the world be better if everyone behaved like a Christian?”
It’s a question Sheriff Judd asked hundreds of people from the pulpit of First Baptist Church at the mall in Lakeland. It’s a question he’s now defending two months after the sermon he delivered in April.
“I was invited to this church, as I am to many churches and secular events, and you know what, the message was clear,” Judd said. “The message was uplifting. The message talked about and bragged on how wonderful our community was.”
That may be the message the sheriff says he put out there, but it’s not the message the Freedom from Religion Foundation got when they heard it.
The group sent a letter to the sheriff accusing him of excluding other religions and making non-believers feel like outsiders in their own community. And they said the sheriff did it all while wearing his uniform.
The foundation’s attorney, Andrew Seidel, who wrote the letter, said the sheriff is breaking the law by failing to separate church and state.
“This isn’t really a gray area,” he said. "If he wants to promote his personal religious beliefs, he’s absolutely free to do that. He’s just not allowed to do it in his capacity as sheriff.”
Basically the group says the sheriff can say whatever he wants but as Grady Judd, not the sheriff and definitely not while in his uniform.
“What’s really beautiful about this job is you’re the sheriff 24-hours a day, seven days a week," Judd said. "Whether I’m in this uniform, or a coat and tie, or in my underwear. I’m still the sheriff, everybody knows I’m the sheriff.” This national organization says they first heard about Sheriff Grady Judd’s speech at the church after receiving about a handful of complaints from people who live in Polk County.
The sheriff said he’s not concerned about critics and insists he’s exercising his first amendment right, refusing to be censored.
When asked what he plans to do in the future, even with the threat that the Freedom of Religion Foundation could potentially sue him.
“Let me say this clearly and unequivocally, when people call the sheriff’s office and ask me to come speak, I’m gonna come speak, I’m gonna wear my uniform," Judd said. "You can guarantee it.”
The Freedom of Religion Foundation group says they wanted this to serve as a warning to the sheriff, but if he continues to speak about religion while wearing his uniform they will consider a lawsuit.
If he’s an officer of the court 24X7X365, whether in uniform or not, then are we supposed to believe that he has forfeited his rights to free speech and to the free practice of his religion?
Someone give the big smackdown to FFR satanic worshippers. They need it.
said the sheriff is breaking the law by failing to separate church and state.
Sounds like Freedom From Religion should be hit with a racketeering suit.
Any group can name themselves but it becomes interesting when their intent demonstrates an opposite concept. The Freedom of Religion Foundation group would better be called “Freedom FROM Religion” and like the Gaystapo “Human Rights Campaign” they have coopted a name that is at odds with their intent.
As a resident of this area I’d normally be confident that Sheriff Judd is safe, BUT given the flavor of some of the Federal Judges, it could be a stinkpot. It seems like from every side the morality that guided this country for the past centuries and Civilizations for millennia is being dismantled by well funded zealots more interested in their ideology.
THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!
If he was off the clock when he spoke in church? Than he did nothing wrong. Maybe wearing the uniform at church was a mistake, but hardly a threat to anyone else’s religious liberty.
In order to ensure to citizens freedom of conscience, the church in the U.S.S.R. is separated from the state, and the school from the church. Freedom of religious worship and freedom of antireligious propaganda is recognized for all citizens.
—1936 USSR Constitution, Article 124
Citizens of the USSR are guaranteed freedom of conscience, that is, the right to profess or not to profess any religion, and to conduct religious worship or atheistic propaganda. Incitement of hostility or hatred on religious grounds is prohibited. In the USSR, the church is separated from the state, and the school from the church.
—1977 USSR Constitution, Article 52
What’s the difference whether he was on the clock or not?
If he was on the clock while there, he could be accused of giving a sermon with taxpayers resources. Even if so, it was an innocent mistake. No one was hurt by it.
Absurd accusation, which would be Marxist in nature. They used the same gobbledegook to get prayer banned in schools.
The answer to the title of his sermon is, yes, the world WOULD be better if everyone behaved like a Christian.
After all, his job is to enforce the law. And it’s always better to persuade people not to break the law than it is to arrest them for breaking it.
In fact, he was doing his job, even if he wasn’t claiming to be doing so.
Meaning one person, who may or may not have even been there, who then posts to Facebook where a "handful" of locals start spreading it around.
Within hours, liberal athiests from across the country grab for the fainting couch.
They recently did this to a school in my area because one teacher had one quote from George Washington on the history classroom wall in which he referenced God.
So a public official cannot publicly express faith? That policy would be a clear violation of the First Amendment.
And BTW, the sheriff is right.
Freedom from Religion Foundation is an anti-religious freedom group
The headline and the designation of “religious freedom group” is 100% false.
@saundraweathers on Twitter, tell her how ridiculous this is
But, as he noted, he's the Sheriff 24/7, whether in uniform or not - if a call comes in at 2 AM, he responds. The only potential harm being done is anything but an innocent mistake; it's a concerted effort by the commie faction to squash religious activities as much as possible.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.