God, Kentucky's first defense

In a blatant disregard for the separation of church and state, we have the following news from my birth state:

By John Cheves - jcheves@herald-leader.com

Under state law, God is Kentucky's first line of defense against terrorism.

The 2006 law organizing the state Office of Homeland Security lists its initial duty as "stressing the dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth."

Specifically, Homeland Security is ordered to publicize God's benevolent protection in its reports, and it must post a plaque at the entrance to the state Emergency Operations Center with an 88-word statement that begins, "The safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God."

State Rep. Tom Riner, a Southern Baptist minister, tucked the God provision into Homeland Security legislation as a floor amendment that lawmakers overwhelmingly approved two years ago.

As amended, Homeland Security's religious duties now come before all else, including its distribution of millions of dollars in federal grants and its analysis of possible threats.

This conveniently ignores the fact of Muslim terrorists in many countries (notably India this week, but hardly limited to India), Catholic terrorists in northern Ireland, Jewish terrorists in Palestine, and other examples of religious terrorists that pretty much indicate God is depending on us to sort this out ourselves.