Eric Adams, the Mayor of New York City, recently issued a shocking statement in which he lamented the wholesale lack of prayer in schools while decrying the horrid influx of gun violence.
As part of the statements issued while attending an interfaith breakfast, Adams took time to speak about the intersection of faith and reaching one’s full potential. He stated that people taking the time to go to places of worship, regardless of what religion they follow, can help deal with the various problems sweeping across the city, such as both domestic violence and homelessness.
“When we took prayers out of schools, guns came into schools,” he exclaimed to a crowd’s raucous applause.
At a later point in the same speech, Adams ended up echoing Ingrid Lewis-Martin, his chief adviser and Christian chaplain, who issued their own remarks directly prior to him at the event and stated that the administration of that Mayor “doesn’t believe” in the total separation of church and state, as reported by POLITICO.
“When we took prayers out of schools, guns came into schools.”
— NYC Mayor Eric Adams (D) speaking at the New York Public Library interfaith breakfast pic.twitter.com/2GkxKCB5bX
— The Recount (@therecount) February 28, 2023
“Don’t tell me about no separation of church and state,” stated Adams. “State is the body. Church is the heart. You take the heart out of the body, the body dies.”
These claims made by Adams kicked off some fairly hefty outrage from a number of people, including quite a few people from the ACLU of New York.
“We are a nation and a city of many faiths and no faith,” exclaimed Donna Lieberman, the Executive Director of the NYCLU. “In order for our government to truly represent us, it must not favor any belief over another, including non-belief.”
Others spoke up to herald their agreement with Adams. “Strange to agree with Mayor Adams, but here we are,” claimed Charlie Kirk, a founder of Turning Point USA, via social media.
One spokesperson for Adams openly dismissed the sprouting idea that the Mayor was attempting to promote anything at all improper.
“The policies we make as an administration are rooted in the mayor’s belief in the creator. The mayor personally believes all of our faiths would ensure we are humane to one another,” expressed the press secretary for the Mayor, Fabien Levey, as reported by CBS News. “While everyone in the room immediately understood what the mayor meant, it’s unfortunate that some have attempted to hijack the narrative in an effort to misrepresent the mayor’s comments.”
