A few months ago the Chaplain for the Spring Hill Fire Department came under fire for having a webpage, on the department’s website, with religious-specific content.  Ken Fagan, a local citizen, complained that Chaplain Jack Martin broke rules with his page:

The matter was brought to the attention of the Florida Department of Community Affairs in January after resident Ken Fagan complained Martin broke “ethics rules” with his website and that he has “crossed the line regarding the separation of church and state.”

Now, the assistant attorney general for Florida has said the website (here) must have a disclaimer, and that it may have “information that arguably may exceed the scope of information that is permissible.”

As noted earlier, there is no cause for Fagan’s complaint:

The concept of religious freedom…was never intended to proscribe all persons in public service from ever mentioning religion or a specific sect of religion.  Unfortunately, religious hypersensitivity in America has reached a point where a link on a Chaplain’s webpage can give rise to an inaccurate complaint.  The US military has also received similar complaints when troops associate themselves with religion in public.

The sensitivity level rose so much that Martin even put a disclaimer on his own biography.

Interestingly, Fagan is apparently seeking a seat on the Spring Hill Board of Fire Commissioners — the supervisory board that oversees the Fire Department.