The Freedom From Religion Foundation is demanding that the Marion (Indiana) Police Department remove a Christian verse displayed on state property.
A concerned community member informed FFRF that the police department displays a bible verse at its main police station, advertised by the department’s social media as “the message our officers see every time they depart headquarters.” The verse reads: “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. – Matthew 5:9.”
The individual who contacted FFRF reported how alarming and exclusionary it is to see this message being put on view by a public agency:
Seeing this religious message displayed so prominently at a government-run police department made me feel alienated and uneasy. It sent a clear signal that Christianity is being treated as the “default” or preferred belief system within an institution that is supposed to serve and protect everyone, regardless of religion or lack thereof. As a non-Christian, it’s disheartening and even a little intimidating to see faith used to frame law enforcement duties — it feels like there’s a spiritual qualification being placed on public service. I want to trust that my local police operate from a position of neutrality and inclusivity, not under the influence of a particular religion. This kind of messaging undermines that trust and makes me question whether officers see themselves as enforcers of the law or as agents of a religious mission.
FFRF is urging the police department to remove the religious display to respect the right of conscience of all Marion residents.
“Citizens of Marion trust their law enforcement officials to attend to their secular duties,” FFRF Staff Attorney Madeline Ziegler writes to Police Chief David Gilbert. “Spending taxpayer time and money placing religious messages on police department property is beyond the scope of secular government.”
People interact with and rely on law enforcement officers during some of the most urgent and vulnerable times of their lives. These people should not be made to feel alienated, like political outsiders, because the local government they support with their taxes oversteps its power by declaring that its officers are representatives of the Christian god. And the department should not privilege religious citizens. Such a show of religious preference undermines the credibility of the police department and calls into question the impartiality of its law enforcement officials.
The religious display undermines the community’s confidence in the religious neutrality of the police department, and, in order to adhere to the constitutional principle of separating state and church, the department must see that it is removed as soon as possible.
FFRF emphasizes that the exclusionary message extends not only to the public but also to the department’s own employees. A non-Christian police officer required to pass beneath a Christian proclamation every day before beginning their shift is placed in an untenable position. Such an officer may reasonably feel like an outsider in their own workplace — pressured to conform or stay silent about their beliefs to fit in. Government employment should not come with the implicit message that one’s religious views determine whether they truly belong.
“Religious quotes of any kind create an exclusionary environment not just for residents of Marion, but also for police officers who do not share the specific religious views being pushed on them,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor says. “State employees are free to practice their faith privately. But when religious messages become part of official government property and messaging, that crosses a constitutional line.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with 42,000 members nationwide, including almost 600 members in Indiana. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
