Normally I leave violations of church/state separation at the local level to the capable hands of our coalition members. They have staff and attorneys who can call out a city council that opens meetings with a prayer, for example. But when the mayor of the largest city in the country comes up with “Don't tell me about no separation of church and state… When I put policies in place, I put them in with a God-like approach to them,” and then, “When we took prayers out of schools, guns came into schools,” it’s time for the Secular Coalition to remind him about the First Amendment. Actually to spell it out for him.

Some background: Democrat Eric Adams was a New York City police officer for 22 years before running for the State Senate in 2006. The setting for his comments was an interfaith breakfast. Christians attending, certainly. Jews certainly; it’s New York City. Presumably representatives from the Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu communities from one of the most diverse cities anywhere. That’s where Mayor Adams decided to attack the wall of separation.

Just to make sure that the Mayor’s position was crystal clear and there would be no need to later walk back his remarks and say they were misrepresented, his chief of staff said in introducing him that the mayor’s administration “does not believe” it must “separate church from state.” (His spokesman later tried to walk back the Mayor’s remarks and say that they were misrepresented.) The official transcript of the entire remarkable speech is available here. If you read to the end where he discusses at length wringing despair out of your life like a kitchen sponge in order to receive God’s blessing, know that he had a kitchen sponge with him at the event. 

So we sent him a letter explaining that the First Amendment prohibits the government from taking any action “respecting an establishment of religion.” Quoting Thomas Jefferson on the wall of separation between church and state. Reminding him that “When you took your oath of office you put your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution, not the other way around.”

We cited the Supreme Court decision from 1962 that prohibits organized school prayer, based on a case coming out of New York. We pointed out that as the mayor of a city in which 40 percent of the population identifies as something other than Christian, the question of to which God, if any, he wants the students to pray becomes relevant.

We even addressed the cause-and-effectless statement about school prayer and guns with some statistics on school shootings, or the absence of them, in the 1960s, not that facts would be likely to make much difference. Finally we asked him to learn a little more about the First Amendment and consider the First Amendment obligations of municipal officials as they administer local governments, the level of government that most directly affecting the lives of American citizens. You can read the entire letter here. 


When the Mayor of a city with a population greater than 38 states blatantly says he ignores the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, it shows us we have work to do, more than just sending a letter. And it shows we can’t just assume that there won’t be any problems with government officials in certain states. Preserving the wall of separation between church and state starts in Washington and extends throughout the country. 

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Registration is still open for SCA’s Lobby Day on March 24. We are now offering a student rate of $45 on the registration fee. No lobbying experience necessary. Members of Congress and staff see plenty of lobbyists but constituents who are simply asking for better government are always welcome. Learn more here.