Kentucky state’s Homeland Security office should give God credit for keeping Kentucky safe according to a Kentucky lawmaker. Southern Baptist Minister and State Rep. Tom Riner, was involved in the requirements made in 2006 and he disapproves of the fact that Homeland Security doesn’t currently mention God in its mission statement or on its Web Site.
The law was passed under Gov. Ernie Fletcher who does credited God in annual reports to state leaders. Under Gov. Steve Beshear’s administration God is not credited according to its 2008 Homeland Security report issued last month.
“We certainly expect it to be there, of course,” Mr. Riner, Louisville Democrat, told the Lexington Herald-Leader.
According to the law that organized the Homeland Security office first lists Homeland Security’s duty to recognize that government itself can’t secure the state without God. This statement meaning even before the mentioning of other duties which would include distributing millions of dollars in federal grants and analyzing possible threats.
The religious language was in a floor amendment introduced by Mr. Riner and passed overwhelmingly by the General Assembly. It lists the office's initial duty as "stressing the dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the commonwealth."
Also included in the law is a requirement that the office must post a plaque at the entrance to the state Emergency Operations Center with an 88-word statement that would begin with, “The safety and security of the commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God.”
Mr. Beshear’s Homeland Security chief, Thomas Preston said he is not interested in stepping into a religious debate. “I will not try to supplant Almighty God,” Mr. Preston said. “All I do is try to obey the dictates of the Kentucky General Assembly. I really don’t know what their motivation was for this. They obviously felt strongly about it.”
Helping to ensure the state’s safety is appropriate and giving God the credit is as well said Mr. Riner. “This is recognition that government alone cannot guarantee the perfect safety of the people of Kentucky.” “Government itself, apart from God, cannot close the security gap. The job is too big for government.” Lexington Democrat and state Sen. Kathy Stein said requiring the department to credit God takes away from Homeland Security’s mission. “It’s very sad to me that we do this sort of thing,” she said. “It takes away from the seriousness of the public discussion over security, and it clearly hurts the credibility of this office if it’s supposed to be depending on God, first and foremost.”
| Published in : The News, US/World News |
| Keywords : News, US/World News, God and Homeland Security, KY, Kentucky, Homeland Security, Tom Riner, God, Mission Statement, Lawmaker, Thomas Preston |
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