Say Anything

From Fox News, always fair and balanced:

The Tulsa Police Deptartment is investigating a captain who refused an order to assign officers to attend an upcoming Islamic event because he said it would violate his religious beliefs.

Capt. Paul Fields was reassigned after he refused to order officers under his command to attend the Islamic Center of Tulsa’s Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, a spokesman for the department said.

“It is my opinion and that of my legal counsel that forcing me to enter a Mosque when it is not directly related to a police call for service is a violation of my Civil Rights,” Fields wrote in an internal police department memo obtained by Fox News.

… according to a promotional flyer, the Islamic event included not just food and entertainment, but “presentations” on “beliefs, human rights, and women.” They would also be able to watch a Muslim prayer service and take a tour of the mosque…

Ibrahim Hooper, the spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, called the incident an example of “anti-Muslim bigotry.”

“When somebody feels empowered to say ‘I’m not going to take part in a community outreach event at a mosque because I basically don’t like Muslims,’ it’s all part of that rise in Islamophobia in our society,” he said.

Of course Hooper is being more than a little disingenuous. Well, okay… he’s lying. Captain Fields didn’t say that he “basically doesn’t like Muslims.” But a C.A.I.R. spokesman could be expected to try and spin the truth in this case. Anti-Christians of all stripes love to play the victims. MSM eats that stuff up.

In any case, this is not any easy situation for either Captain Fields or the Tulsa Police Department. Kinda reminds me of the case several years back of the pharmacist who refused to fill “morning after” abortion pill prescriptions because of his religious beliefs. Question is: Just how far can a government entity go in forcing an individual to violate his religious convictions?