Lawmaker to Homeland Security: Don't forget to credit God for keeping Kentuckians safe RAW STORY

Published: Friday November 28, 2008





Print This Email This A lawmaker is upset with his state's Department of Homeland Security for its lack of credit to a "higher power" for its work in protecting the state's citizens.



Kentucky State Rep. Tom Riner, a Southern Baptist minister who helped establish a requirement that the federally funded agency credit God with keeping the state safe, is upset that under Gov. Steve Beshear, the department's 2008 annual report did not do so.



"We certainly expect it to be there, of course," Riner, of Louisville, told the Lexington Herald-Leader.



Among the requirements of the 2006 anti-terror law is that a plaque be placed in the department's Emergency Operations Center. Part of the statement on the plaque reads: "The safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God."



"This is recognition that government alone cannot guarantee the perfect safety of the people of Kentucky," Riner added. "Government itself, apart from God, cannot close the security gap. The job is too big for government."



"I will not try to supplant almighty God," said Homeland Security chief Thomas Preston. "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."



