When Sheriff Mike Jolley from Harris County, Georgia put up a "politically incorrect" welcome sign outside the sheriff's office, he was surprised that it warranted a lot of attention.
According to WLTZ-TV, the controversial sign reads: "Welcome to Harris County, Georgia! WARNING: Harris County is politically incorrect. We say: Merry Christmas, God Bless America and In God We Trust; We salute our troops and our flag. If this offends you... LEAVE!"
The outspoken sheriff explained that he put up the sign because a lot of people have been keeping quiet about their beliefs out of fear of persecution, but not him.
"I spent 20 years in the Army to give everyone the right not to agree with it and to voice their opinion if they're not, and that's fine," said Jolley.
He added that he bought the sign with his own money, but since he put it up on Tuesday morning, a lot of people have come up and offered him donations to keep the sign up.
However, as can only be expected, the atheist Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) got very upset with the sign. In an open letter in Patheos, FFRF staff attorney Andrew Seidel writes that Jolley put up a "hateful, misplaced message."
"It is you, Sheriff Jolley, who needs the real warning. You have now opened the county to any number of lawsuits, and not just to keep state and church separate: Employment discrimination, civil rights suits, and other suits by minority citizens who have been told by the person they are supposed to call for help that they should get out," he says.
The fact that he told those who carry opposing views from him to "leave" Harris County "can't be read as anything other than a threat by the chief law enforcement office," and this is why he should retract it, Seidel said.
