A monument to fallen Police officers in Tega Cay has been reinstalled after city officials managed to offend just about everyone.
Originally, on the front of the monument, a Bible verse was inscribed, while on the back was an inscription of “The Officer’s Prayer,” which makes three references to the “Lord.”
After offended members of the public complained that public grounds should be secular, officials decided to paint over the references – a decision that sparked an even greater backlash.
Several people complained when a monument was placed outside the new Tega Cay po… https://t.co/Bb4HceK9MI pic.twitter.com/XNae93iXPx
— York Run (@run_york) July 22, 2019
“We have received many comments, both locally and nationally, in response to the monument at the Tega Cay Police Station,” the city said in a statement on Facebook.
“We attempted to find a compromise but failed as our community has further divided.”
After apologising for offending people on both sides of the argument, the officials decided to completely remove the monument, saying it will stay down until they figure out a solution.
According to reports, the city recently came up with a new compromise: this time, they restored the monument with references to the “Lord,” but removed the Bible verse that appeared on the front of the monument.
In a post on Facebook, the city stated: “After careful consideration and much conversation with people on both sides of the discussion, City Council has made the decision that the Police Officer’s Prayer will be restored to its original condition and returned to the Fallen Officers’ Memorial located at the new police station.”
“By restoring the Police Officer’s Prayer on the back and not restoring the reference to the Bible Verse on the front of the monument, we can begin to understand what it means to compromise even when we completely disagree,” the city added.
