New York City Mayor Eric Adams dismissed the idea of church and state separation and drew a connection between the absence of faith and guns in schools, rankling some civil libertarians.
"Don't tell me about no separation of church and state," Adams said Tuesday during an an annual interfaith breakfast of religious leaders in Manhattan. "State is the body. Church is the heart. You take the heart out of the body, the body dies.
"I can't separate my belief because I'm an elected official. When I walk, I walk with God. When I talk, I talk with God. When I put policies in place, I put them in with a God-like approach to them. That's who I am."
According to Politico, Adams identifies as a Christian. His spokesperson said Adams was raised in the Church of God in Christ, but now generally attends non-denominational services. He is also a collector of Buddhist statues and believes New York emits "a special energy" because it sits atop a deposit of rare gems and stones.
Adams told breakfast event attendees that the absence of faith contributes to a variety of societal ills, including domestic violence, guns in schools, and homelessness.
"When we took prayers out of schools, guns came into schools," he said.
The separation of church and state stems from the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights, according to Cornell Law School. Mandatory prayer in public schools was banned in 1962.
Adams' comments drew the ire of some civil liberties activists.
In a statement, New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman said: "We are a nation and a city of many faiths and no faith. In order for our government to truly represent us, it must not favor any belief over another, including non-belief.
"It is odd that Mayor Adams would need a refresher on the First Amendment. After all, he has sworn to uphold the Constitution more than once, first as a police officer, later as a state representative, and then last year upon becoming mayor. On matters of faith, the Mayor is entitled to his own beliefs. On the Constitution, he must uphold his oath."
Naomi Paiss, former vice president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, tweeted: "So much for blue-city mayors upholding a fundamental principle of American society."
After the event, a spokesperson for Adams said the mayor "personally believes all of our faiths would ensure we are humane to one another." The spokesperson also accused reporters, who were asking if Adams does not support the separation of church and state, of attempting to "hijack the narrative in an effort to misrepresent the mayor's comments," according to Politico.
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