Group informs Tulsa police it cannot endorse Salvation Army; kettle-ringing by officers in uniform
Tulsa OK Feb 8 2018
Tulsa Salvation Army Capt. Ken Chapman said Friday that he has been informed that Tulsa police officers will no longer be able to participate in the organization’s holiday donation drive while in uniform.
“The police chief, who serves on our advisory board, called and informed me that the Freedom From Religion Foundation is threatening to sue him and the city for ringing the bells for an evangelical, Christian-based organization, which is the Salvation Army, and also, that the chief has to step down from our advisory board,” Chapman said.
City spokeswoman Michelle Brooks confirmed that Police Chief Chuck Jordan received a letter from the foundation but declined further comment on the issue. Jordan declined to comment.
Stan May, spokesman for the Tulsa Fire Department, said early Friday afternoon that he did not believe firefighters had been contacted about the issue.
Chapman said Tulsa police and firefighters have been ringing bells for the Salvation Army fundraising drive for decades. The departments even compete to see which one can raise the most money.
Last year, the competition raised more than $5,000, Chapman said.
The Salvation Army is part of the universal Christian Church and is more than 150 years old, Chapman said.
Attorney Chris Line, representing the Freedom From Religion Foundation, said he would not characterize the organization’s communication with the police chief as a threat of legal action.
“We wrote a letter informing the department that as a government entity it cannot endorse a religious charity like this,” Line said.
The letter, dated Jan. 16, states that the organization’s purpose is to protect “the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.”
According to the letter, on Dec. 22, 2017, the Police Department posted a picture on its Twitter account in which Jordan and another officer are shown ringing bells for the Salvation Army, with the message: “Come see the Chief and Sgt. Houck at the Macy’s south door,” and a pitch to donate.
“We write to inform the department that as a government entity it cannot endorse a religious charity,” the letter continues. “The department’s Twitter posts and bell ringing violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by favoring a specific religion over another.”
The Salvation Army, Line states, is not just a charity or a chain of thrift stores — “it is a church denomination with an evangelistic mission.”
Line’s letter goes on to say that using the Police Department’s official social media to promote a Christian charity “suggests that Christianity is the preferred religion of the Tulsa Police Department.”
The letter ends by stating that Tulsa Police Department must remove the religious endorsement and avoid promoting religious organizations going forward. The foundation also requests that the department inform it in writing of what steps it has taken “to resolve this constitutional violation.”
According to its website, Freedom From Religion Foundation is a “nonprophet nonprofit (that) works as an effective state/church watchdog and voice for free thought (atheism, agnosticism, skepticism).”
On its Facebook page, the Madison, Wisconsin-based organization promotes itself as “Unabashed Atheists” and “Not Afraid Of Burning In Hell.”
The organization also describes itself as the largest free-thinking group in the nation with more than 30,000 members.
Tulsa World
