The Freedom From Religion Foundation is urging the East Hartford Police Department to immediately disband a chaplaincy program and the city to cease promotion of it on social media outlets. A concerned East Hartford resident reported that on March 8, multiple Christian religious leaders were sworn in as official police chaplains for the East Hartford Police Department. Alongside the program, the East Hartford official Facebook page promoted the program with a post reading: How do you remake a town into a community? Well, you start by carefully adding four reverends and one pastor as East Hartford Police Department chaplains, bringing the face of God to the community through prayer and religious devotion. God and acceptance is universal, so we support all religions. Please join me in congratulating the newest volunteer members of the EHPD! Goodness knows we need their prayers! Police chaplain programs are unconstitutional, FFRF emphasizes. “Government chaplains may only exist as an accommodation of a public employee’s religious beliefs when the government makes it difficult or impossible to seek out private ministries,” Equal Justice Works Fellow Kat Grant writes to the East Hartford Police Department Police Chief Scott Sansom. “For instance, it may be difficult for military […]
