Senator Bill Cassidy Fires Back at Atheist Group over Bible Verse Tweets

An activist atheist organization recently criticized Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy (R) for posting scripture to Twitter and Facebook on weekends. 

The Freedom From Religion Foundation and Cassidy engaged in a back and forth of tweets and statements following the initial statement from the FFRF. 

Cassidy's tweets from August are simply quotes from scripture without proselytizing or excessive endorsement of Christianity. The Bible is also the most read book in the world-and not exclusively to Christians-as many find use in the Bible for scholarly research, inspiration, and wisdom. The FFRF wrote that a concerned resident of Louisiana contacted the organization to report that on Sundays, bible verses were being posted to Cassidy's official social media profiles, including Twitter and Facebook.

The atheist activist group argued that the powerful influence of social media and the religious diversity of America make Senator Cassidy's posts inappropriate and "alienating to non-Christians."

The FFRF accused Cassidy of "violating the spirit of the First Amendment" and requested that he remove "all religious posts from his official government Facebook page and avoid making similar posts in the future." 

The post was written by FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor who argued that "the First Amendment prohibits government sponsorship of religious messages." The authors attempt to substantiate their claim through Supreme Court interpretations: "The Supreme Court has long held that the Establishment Clause 'mandates government neutrality between religion and religion, and between religion and nonreligion.' Your office violates this constitutional mandate when it proselytizes the Christian faith to all constituents, such as directing them to 'Trust in the LORD.'"

Cassidy responded in a tweet that reads "The Freedom From Religion Foundation has demanded that I stop sharing Bible verses with you. The left won't bully me into canceling Christianity. Their request is denied."

The FFRF ultimately responded again, telling Cassidy "cool it with all the religion" and reiterating their argument that Cassidy is "alienating non-Christians." FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor stated in the letter, "As someone serving the Constitution, he can't impose his religion on his constituents using official channels."