Jail suspends chaplain after offensive tracts against Islam are found

Suzan Clarke of the Journal News (Lower Hudson Valley, New York) reports that Rockland County Jail Chief William Clark has suspended their the jail's chaplain for 12 years, Teresa Darden Clapp. She is under investigation for handing out tracts offensive to Muslims:

Clapp distributed religious booklets that characterize Islam's Allah as an "idol" and devil and the prophet Muhammad as a criminal and a "religious dictator."

In the cartoon panel stories, one of the tracts in distribution also says Islamic fundamentalists who commit terrorist acts are not "bad Muslims," but rather, "very good Muslims." Another tells the story of a Muslim who is contrite on learning he is worshipping a false idol and converts to Christianity.

Members of the jail's small Muslim inmate population today said they were deeply hurt and offended by the presence of the tracts, adding that other inmates' belief in the inaccurate and slanted information has led to verbal altercations.

Clark said Clapp was ordered to stop distributing the booklets and remove them. He said no incidents of violence relating to the tract's presence have occurred."