July 28, 2015 – The State of Kentucky has established a policy requiring pastors who volunteer in its prison system to sign a statement agreeing not to tell inmates that homosexuality was “sinful.”Pastor David Wells an ordained Baptist minister, who had served as a volunteer chaplain for over ten years at the Warren County Regional Juvenile Detention Center, had his volunteer visitor credentials revoked by the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) because he was would not sign a statement promising not to ever tell juvenile inmates that homosexuality was “sinful.”“Many juveniles are in DJJ custody because of sexual crimes,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, which is working to get Pastor Wells reinstated. “Pastor Wells must be able to discuss what the Bible says about matters of sexuality with the juveniles he is trying to help. To remove the Bible from a pastor’s hands is like removing a scalpel from a surgeon’s hands,” Staver said. “Without it, they cannot provide healing.”The DJJ policy now says that volunteers “[S]hall not refer to juveniles by using derogatory language in a manner that conveys bias towards or hatred of the LGBTQI community. DJJ staff, volunteers, interns, and contractors shall not imply or tell LGBTQI juveniles that they are abnormal, deviant, sinful, or that they can or should change their sexual orientation or gender identity.”The policy essentially equates Bible morality with “derogatory,” “biased” and “hateful” speech. Pastor Wells was barred from visiting, counseling, or leading worship services for juveniles based on the policy.“The DJJ policy creates an unconstitutional, religious litmus test for DJJ access” said Matt Staver of the Liberty Counsel. “The First Amendment prohibits the government from viewpoint discrimination. This detention center may not prohibit the expression of Biblical morality simply because a few DJJ policymakers object to the Bible and its teaching,” he said.“Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot…” Luke 17:28