City Forbids Chaplains from Praying ‘In Jesus’ Name’
A city official in Carlsbad, California has prohibited a police chaplain and a fire chaplain from praying “in Jesus’ name.”
Police chaplain JC Cooper and fire chaplain Denny Cooper, JC’s father, provide “support, encouragement and prayer to first responders as they face traumatic situations,” legal group First Liberty Institute wrote.
As JC concluded his prayer during the Carlsbad Police Department Awards Ceremony with the phrase “in Jesus’ name,” the city manager said the chaplain would be disciplined if the phrase was used again.
Any other name for God is permissible, the city manager said, except for “Jesus.” The city manager also said that saying “Jesus” is considered “harassment.”
JC told the police chief that removing Jesus from his prayers would be to deny Jesus Christ as his Savior.
The legal group sent a letter to the city of Carlsbad addressing the issue, writing, “We urge you to revoke the City Manager’s recent order that longtime fire chaplain Denny Cooper and police chaplain JC Cooper cease praying in the name of Jesus.”
“Because the Chaplains cannot in good conscience erase the name of Jesus from their prayers, this order deprives first responders of the solace and spiritual strength that the Chaplains’ volunteer ministry has provided for nearly two decades,” the letter added.
The Supreme Court has upheld chaplaincy programs where the “government selects a single chaplain to serve as its routine prayer-giver and that chaplain prays in accordance with his particular faith,” First Liberty noted. The government may also not “censor prayers in an attempt to make them ‘generic’ or ‘nonsectarian.'”
“Censoring public chaplains betrays the history and traditions of our country,” First Liberty explained in a news release. “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.”
