18And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.19I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If we want to see change in our communities, it originates from the changing of a heart. We are called to shine and spread the light of Jesus Christ to those who do not know Him - in the midst of a culture that has pockets of resistance to the gospel, expressed in verbal assaults on the Christian faith or in activity that violates the principles of Scripture, we are called to hold up a different standard, exhibiting the character and compassion of Jesus Christ, so that people will see His love and perhaps evaluate their spiritual state.
Because we know Christ and embrace His truth, and because our hearts have been transformed by His power and grace, we now have access to His wisdom. His wisdom can produce Biblically-based solutions to some of the cultural challenges we face - crime, poverty, economic matters, and so much more, can be addressed by our being willing to share the truth and shine His light by displaying authentic Christian character:8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light9(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),10finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.11And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
At Faith Radio, we are delighted to be standing with those in our law enforcement community as they seek to prevent crime in our communities and respond to criminal activity. This year, in Montgomery, we have seen an unusual spike in the murder rate in the city, and the Police Department is dedicated to taking strong measures to identify areas of concern in various parts of the community, and recognize the strategic placement of the faith community as a deterrent to crime and as a comfort to crime victims.
That is why the Montgomery Police Department adopted the Good Shepherd Program, which is designed to leverage the powerful and influential status of the clergy. An overflow crowd of a couple of hundred people gathered at Gateway Park for the initial meeting, and 34 clergy members graduated from the training course, which included actual in-the-field activity with police officers. These spiritual leaders stand ready to respond to crime victims and to be the eyes and ears of law enforcement to alert them to potential trouble spots. And, in the process of responding, there may be an opportunity to minister to spiritual needs. These pastors and church leaders do not receive compensation and no doubt see their involvement in Good Shepherd as an extension of their personal ministry and a fulfillment of their purpose.
Reponse has been overwhelmingly positive, or so it seems. But, all of a sudden, 3 organizations have begun to question the city's involvement in this program. According to the Montgomery Advertiser, American Atheists, which is described as a national organization that fights for separation of religion and government, sent a letter Tuesday to Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange and Police Chief Kevin Murphy saying the program violates the Constitution because it claims public funding is being used to promote Christianity as a way to fight crime. By the way, that is not a true statement - the clergy involved are not paid, and the purpose is not to "promote" Christianity. There is a clear misunderstanding here of the concept of the "ministry of presence" that chaplains across the board embrace.
Dave Muscato of American Atheists is quoted by the Advertiser as saying, that training pastors with taxpayers’ dollars and bringing them to crime scenes to preach Christianity is a “blatant violation of separation of religion and government.
“We are happy to drop this if the unconstitutional behavior stops,” Muscato said. “All they have to do is end the program.” Again, is there any evidence to support these claims? So, it's OK for any other community group to partner with the police department, except Christians - is that the contention here?
The American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama on Oct. 3 also sent the city a records request asking for more information about the program. The city also received one of "those" letters from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, calling the program a “serious affront to both the Constitution and criminology.”
Andrew Seidel, attorney for the Freedom From Religion Foundation, said aside from being unconstitutional, using religion to fight crime is “like pouring gasoline on fire.” He said statistically, the countries, states and cities with the lowest level of violence and murder are those that are the least religious. Seidel said there currently are similar programs in other cities the foundation is investigating, including the Cincinnati Police Department’s prayer walks.
Oh, please - yes, there was a study put together a few years ago by a Phil Zuckerman who said that atheism and secularism affected society in a more positive way than religion, according to an infographic released by the Total Criminal Defense Organization. Also, the infographic states there also was a study called the Institute of Economics and Peace Index released in 2011 that listed the most and least religious states and the most and least peaceful states. Yes, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Washington all fall into the "less religious, more peaceful" grid. And, states like Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee and Oklahoma fall into the "more religious, less peaceful" category. But, then you have one of the most peaceful states, Utah, that is also the second most religious. And Nevada, which is less religious, is also one of the least peaceful states.
You can't make a blanket statement that more religion increases criminal behavior. In fact, the infographic concludes by saying that "correlation is not necessarily causation. There are many other variables, including poverty and education levels, that affect the crime rate."
The Mayor and Police Department are standing strong - and the Advertiser reports that they are preparing a response to organizations who have questioned the program's constitutionality. They state that they have been very intentional to be inclusive when inviting faith leaders to be part of the Good Shepherd Program.
The integration of the faith community in response to disaster and tragedy is not an unusual phenomenon - just consider the presence of the Salvation Army when disaster strikes, and how faith-based organizations work in partnership with FEMA and other governmental entities in times of need. Just recently, the head of the Governor's Office of Faith-Based and Volunteer Service, or ServeAlabama, was on the air to welcome the faith community to be involved in practical help when there is a need. To characterize a partnership of government and faith as somehow being unconstitutional or even unethical or nefarious is to neglect the historical model. Throughout the years, the faith community has stood ready and willing to address social ills - and while we are motivated by the love of Christ, I believe that people are trained to be sensitive to a person's emotional state when there is contact made. If the conversation goes to the spiritual, though, you can expect that, because it is our nature, would be ready to share the true hope of Christ.
The whole foundation of Christianity emphasizes holy living, ordering and structuring our lives on God's principles, so if people are walking with God and abiding by His Word, I contend that the propensity to commit crime decreases. If there were a correlation, which there clearly is not, you could make the case that there are people who do attend church but are not committed to the Lord that are engaging in criminal behavior.
And, regarding faith leaders going to crime scenes and helping to prevent crime and their communities, who could be better equipped than someone who has compassion and is trained to sensitively bring comfort in a turbulent time? To say that the faith community shouldn't be involved, as these atheist or secularist groups contend, is to exclude a valuable resource for our communities.
For each of us, we are called to be involved in spreading compassion and comfort for those who struggle.
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