Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

Photo above, Anne Graham Lotz

September 2017 – The Anne Graham Lotz Prayer Day at the Ashe County Sheriff’s Department in North Carolina on June 24 provoked complaints from the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel argued that allowing the event on sheriff’s department property was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution.

“This space is available to any group, regardless of political, religious, secular, or other belief,” wrote Stacy Eggers, Sheriff Terry Buchanan’s lawyer, in response.

FFRF then expressed concern that sheriff’s department employees would attend in their official capacities and uniforms and appear to be endorsing the event. The sheriff’s office said employees would not participate while in uniform.

Listings for the event were removed from the department’s official website and social media pages, but the event was not cancelled.

Lotz’s event was “protected free speech on her part,” the letter from the sheriff’s department clarified.

christianpost.com, 6/27/17; christianheadlines.com, 6/28/17