From firstliberty.org
The City Manager of Carlsbad, California won’t allow police chaplain JC Cooper and fire chaplain Denny Cooper from concluding prayers at some events “in Jesus’ name.”
One of the chaplains was even told his prayers were a form of “harassment.”
Earlier this week, First Liberty sent a letter to the City Council urging it to revoke a recent order by the city manager that forbids the chaplains from praying in accordance with their religious beliefs.
JC Cooper is a local pastor who’s faithfully served as a volunteer chaplain for the Carlsbad Police Department for six years. His father, Denny Cooper, has served as the volunteer chaplain for the Fire Department for 18 years.
JC and Denny provide support, encouragement and prayer to first responders as they face traumatic situations. When asked by the police chief to give the invocation at the Carlsbad Police Department Awards Ceremony, JC concluded his prayer, consistent with his long-held beliefs, “in Jesus’ name.”
He was later told by the city manager that unless he removed “in Jesus’ name” from his invocation, he would be subject to discipline. He was then told that he could refer to any other name for God, just not “Jesus.”
Dating back to the Continental Congress in 1776, America has a robust and widely recognized tradition of both public prayer and chaplain programs. What’s more, courts throughout the country have long upheld government chaplaincy programs as constitutional in many different contexts.
The U.S. Supreme Court itself has explicitly held that governmental bodies may begin their meetings or other events with a prayer or invocation. The nation’s highest court also upholds chaplaincy programs even where the government selects a single chaplain to serve as its routine prayer-giver and that chaplain prays in accordance with his or her particular faith.
Our attorneys point to the landmark Supreme Court case Kennedy v. Bremerton, which held that the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause does not require government “to purge from the public sphere anything an objective observer could reasonably infer endorses or partakes of the religious.” Instead, “the Establishment Clause must be interpreted by reference to historical practices and understandings.”
Perhaps the city’s decision to prohibit chaplains from praying in Jesus’ name stems from a misunderstanding about the law and Supreme Court precedent. That’s why First Liberty has offered to assist the City in developing a constitutionally appropriate chaplain policy. And of course, we’re offering our assistance free of charge.
Censoring public chaplains betrays the history and traditions of our country. We urge the City Council to revisit the decision to censor the chaplains’ prayers. It should instead follow the Supreme Court’s clear statements with respect to prayer and allow them to pray according to their sincere religious beliefs. source
COME LORD JESUS!
I PRAY THIS IN THE NAME OF JESUS! <and just try to stop me!>
The is WRONG and CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION of our Sisters and Brother in JESUS-YESHUA!!
Love Always and Shalom, YSIC \o/
Kristi
The devil himself couldn’t have said it better than thru the city “manager” & council.
Yup
SATANIC IDIOTS.
Indeed they are!
The name above all other names! Jesus! Yeshua! And in every other language and dialect.
They are afraid of Him………afraid of His Name!!
I keep thinking, this place is just asking for it; “ it” being the gigantic earthquake that scientists say is overdue for that place.
I don’t wish it on anyone;
( born& lived there 5 years while father trained at San Diego, for Korean War), but God often speaks His judgment through natural catastrophes.
Sis…..I’ve been thinking this and saying it to Tim many times today. I feel it in my bones. And ya know what? We’re asking for it – not me and you and the rest of the body of Christ. I’m talking about our CORRUPT, SINFUL government and what they’ve done to Israel. I’m talking about the millions of aborted babies. It’s coming and it’s not going to be pretty………
Exactly! They are scared of the Name of Jesus, because the devil in them knows that in Jesus’ Name he is utterly defeated and powerless — which is why we have to be lifted out of the way for the Antichrist to be able to rule. He will only be able to exercise unlimited satanic power if we are not there, with the Holy Spirit in us, wielding the sword of the Spirit in Jesus’ Name, to prevent him.
And this article really highlights the fact that that time cannot now be far off — the spirit of antichrist is rampant, and raging to manifest itself in the form of the son of perdition and his rotten, despotic, godless world government, which only lasts for seven years when all’s said and done, and starts to fall apart at the seams from halfway through anyway, as God begins really pouring out His judgements on a vile world that has had its day.
And then Jesus returns, with us in glory; the Antichrist, false prophet, and their particular chum, satan, all get chucked into the pit of Hell, and we all live happily ever after. Let’s keep our chins up, and looking only to Jesus, for He is coming for us soon 🙂
Amen, sis
To those who trust in God, the name of Jesus is a most welcoming soothing balm that heals and thrills the soul. To those who refuse Gods grace and are perishing, the name of Jesus is highly offensive and fearful.
We must pray in Jesus name. He is our great and perfect intercessor.
Let us praise the Lord Jesus and His name forever!!
PRAISE YOU JESUS FOREVER AND EVER!!