The FFRF has demanded a full retraction of the statement.
The police force in Opp, a town in Alabama, has squarely blamed Satan for its recent jump in homicides.[/tweetit] In its social media post, the Opp Police Department made it clear that it believes the rise in crime is solely due to the growing number of nonbelievers in this small town. It is curious though the Facebook post was written in capital letters. It claimed Opp is facing such a hike in homicides as the town residents have rejected God and embraced Satan. The text then urged the reader to request God's help to stop such crimes from happening again.
Alabama Police Blame Satan for Increase in Homicides[/tweetthis]
Opp is a small Alabama town with about 6,500 residents. The police did not reveal how many residents it believes are non-believers or who belong to a faith other than Christianity. The Facebook post also stayed quiet on whether it wants to do any more action other than a little public chastising.
The Facebook post was quickly deleted. A total of five homicides were reported from this small Alabama town in 2018. This number is a massive rise when compared to its crime history statistic: only two homicides were reported during the entire 2007 to 2017 period. The post did not expand on the reason behind the homicides or the motivations which fueled the crimes.
Although the post was deleted, the December 18 post was screen grabbed and subsequently sent to the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF). The latter is a non-profit organization which promotes the demarcation of the church from the state. The FFRF pasted the screenshot on its website and highlighted sections where the police department claimed the reason behind the increase is that town residents have turned their backs to God and subsequently embraced Satan. The FFRF showed the remainder of the post reminding the reader to ask for God’s help to halt the slide and encouraged people to be more active in raising and disciplining their children, rather than letting their children walk all over them.
Apparently, these police officers haven't read the Bible. Their God killed far more people and ordered far more murders than Satan. "the Opp Police Department said on Tuesday that people needed to embrace religion to stop murders." https://t.co/7uzG0pUNen
— Brian Urbancic (@SciGroupie) December 27, 2018
Well, the police have a point here. https://t.co/hw8w2yAzmi
— april joy (@hyacinthgrrl) December 20, 2018
The FFRF demanded the Opp police department issue a full retraction. It reminded the town’s police force that they have taken the oath to protect all citizens and also serve them, irrespective of their religious affiliation or none at all. It claimed that such a social media post is frightening for people who are not Christians and are affiliated with other faiths.