

An Easter greeting on the Facebook page of an Iowa sheriff's office has drawn condemnation from the American Civil Liberties Union, which claims it violates the First Amendment.

"Happy Easter from all of us at the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office," reads the greeting, accompanied by an an image of a cross with the words "He is risen."

"We simply offered a holiday greeting on a weekend that is recognized by Winneshiek County, and unfortunately some people appeared to be offended by it," Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx said, according to The Courier newspaper of Waterloo, Iowa.

The ACLU of Iowa told the paper it was made aware of the Easter posting by someone who commented on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.

"This social media post by the Winneshiek County Sheriff's official Facebook page is grossly inappropriate under our traditions of religious freedom enshrined in the Iowa and U.S. Constitutions," said Mark Stringer, ACLU of Iowa executive director and former Universalist Unitarian minister.

Defenders of such public displays argue the First Amendment protects the free exercise of religion in the public square. The Constitution's prohibition regarding religion forbids the government from creating a state religion, such as the Church of England, stating "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."

One Facebook user urged the Sheriff’s Office to remove the post "immediately."

"This has no business being on a government page. Did I see a post about Ramadan, Hanukkah, Passover? No I didn’t because it wasn’t posted. Be inclusive to all or post from your personal Facebook page," he wrote.

The Courier said Marx has no plans to remove the post.

Another Facebook user said: "Thank you. He has risen indeed. I am so grateful for this post and for the good hearts behind it."

The ACLU's Stringer argued religious freedom "is alive and well in the United States precisely because the government can’t tell us when, how, or even whether, to pray."

"Government-sponsored prayer is an insult to our proud tradition of religious pluralism and equality. It sends an unconstitutional and exclusionary message that people of some faiths are officially favored while everyone else is second-class, or worse, in the government’s eyes," he said.

"Government prayer," said Stringer, "is a recipe for religious exclusion that undermines these timeless principles."