Georgia Police Officer Resigns After Being Investigated for Affirming Biblical View of Marriage in Social Media Post

Jacob Kersey, a 19-year-old police officer in Port Wentworth, Georgia was put on administrative leave on January 4 and investigated by his supervisors for posting the following comment on his Facebook page:

The three statements contained in the post are Christianity 101 truths, based on the clear teachings of the Bible about marriage (Genesis 2:24), God’s creation of mankind as “male and female” (Genesis 1:27), and the connection between Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:31-32).

But the post ultimately cost Officer Kersey his job. How did it happen?

Kersey’s supervisors at the police department received an anonymous “tip” about his January 2 post and confronted him about it.

How did he react to being questioned about the post by those in command?

In an email to the Daily Citizen, Kersey explained, “I was in complete disbelief but I immediately knew that I had to stand for the Word of God. I believe that was the Holy Spirit enabling me to make a Christ-glorying, God-honoring decision in the moment even if I did not understand what it would mean for my career.”

Kersey, who has also hosted his own podcast for the last six years, is an articulate and fearless Christian.

On January 13, Kersey received an official letter clearing him of any wrongdoing but warning him nonetheless about posting content that others might deem offensive.

“However, the posts, podcasts and so forth found and considered in our investigation likely offensive [sic] to protected classes and could raise reasonable concerns regarding your objectivity in the performance of your job duties when a member, or suspected, member of the LGBTQ+ community is involved.”

But hold on. Would anyone question the “objectivity” of a police officer who wrote a favorable social media post about “gay pride?” Of course not.

And even more ominously, the letter cautioned him about saying anything in public that someone might object to:

“As we have discussed previously, please be reminded that if any post on any of your social media platforms, or any other statement or action, renders you unable to perform, and to be seen as able [sic] to perform, your job in a fair and equitable manner, you could be terminated.”

“That is such a dangerous precedent,” Kersey told Fox Digital, “that if you’re off-duty on your own time, that you could say anything — even something religious, even something at church — if someone somewhere gets offended, you can get fired for it.”

Rather than go back to work with the department’s warnings hanging over him, Kersey resigned. He felt he was facing an inevitable termination and worse:

“I didn’t feel confident that if I were to go out there on the streets and enforce the law, that my command staff was going to have my back,” he said. “It’s just too dangerous of a job to do that. And I did not think it wise to go back to work under those circumstances.”

Kersey said that his chief compared his social media post to using the “N-word,” which is exactly what Justice Samuel Alito warned of in his dissent in the 2015 Supreme Court case that created same-sex “marriage”:

“The decision will also have other important consequences.

“It will be used to vilify Americans who are unwilling to assent to the new orthodoxy.

“In the course of its opinion, the majority compares traditional marriage laws to laws that denied equal treatment for African-Americans and women. […] The implications of this analogy will be exploited by those who are determined to stamp out every vestige of dissent.

“Perhaps recognizing how its reasoning may be used, the majority attempts, toward the end of its opinion, to reassure those who oppose same-sex marriage that their rights of conscience will be protected. […] We will soon see whether this proves to be true. I assume that those who cling to old beliefs will be able to whisper their thoughts in the recesses of their homes, but if they repeat those views in public, they will risk being labeled as bigots and treated as such by governments, employers, and schools” (emphasis added).

What has he learned from his experience that he would pass on to other Christians?

“I would encourage every Christian to pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:16-18),” Kersey told us. “We absolutely must ensure that our heart is right with God and that we have the right motives. Prayer is essential in ensuring that our motives are pure.

“If we are merely fighting for legislation or political victory, then we are motivated by the wrong reasons. We must be motivated by a love for the souls of mankind, God’s design for His creation, and the comprehensive rule of King Jesus over all.”

And trials will come our way if we take a stand for Christ, according to Kersey.

“We should ask ourselves what we are willing to give for Christ? Most of us in America will not be asked to face a physical death for our faith. But we might be called to face the death of our dreams, our reputations, our opportunities, our careers.

“Stand firm brothers and sisters and speak the truth in love, for that is what love demands.”

 

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