A chaplain who worked in Guilford County’s High Point jail ministering to inmates has been terminated by the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department and the department is now reviewing the ministerial services contracts for both the Greensboro and High Point jails.
The Sheriff’s Department was upset by comments that jail chaplain Rick Taylor made in the High Point Enterprise on Friday, March 29. In that article, Taylor was quoted as saying, “My job is just to show them Christ and do it the best I can. It is pointedly Christian and evangelical.” He also said, “If you’re a Muslim in here, you’re gonna’ get a Bible as well as a Quran, because that’s my mandate.”
Over the weekend, the Sheriff’s Department sent out a statement that greatly distanced the department from those remarks and stressed that the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department is tolerant of all religions and religious practices among jail inmates.
In the High Point Enterprise article, Taylor also made some remarks questioning the value of 12-step programs and non-faith-based recovery programs in the jail – programs that Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers and others in the department consider valuable for inmate rehabilitation.
On Sunday, March 31, Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Max Benbassat told the Rhino Times that the department would consider what action to take on Monday, April 1. That morning, it fired Taylor.
The April 1 statement from the department, which is certainly no April Fool’s Day joke, states, “Mr. Rick Taylor is no longer providing Chaplaincy services for the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office is reviewing contracts with both providers in Greensboro and High Point Detention Facilities.”
It adds that the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department wants to state explicitly that the views Taylor expressed do not reflect “the procedures within the High Point Detention Facility nor the views of the Sheriff’s Office or Sheriff Danny Rogers.”
The press release goes on to say, “The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office recognizes that all inmates are free to worship the religion of their choice. Further, the comments made diminishing mental health, addiction and depression/suicide are not reflective of our stance on the medical and mental health care of those in custody. The Sheriff’s Office has robust medical, mental health, and 12 step programs and understand the complexities associated with these issues.”
It concludes: “On behalf of this Department, we wish to express our understanding and respect of all religions [sic] denominations.”
According to Benbassat, the ministry employing Taylor has been serving the county’s jails for over a decade.
A blind man could have seen this coming.
Mr. Benbassat. You have ZERO Law Enforcement experience. You have ZERO public relations experience. Now, due to the “foot in mouth disease “ you seem to keep contracting, one has to wonder, why did Rogers give you this job in the first place?! Scratch that question because I think the irony of it is a tad bit comical….
Rogers seems to fire or get rid of intelligent effective leaders because hes easily intimidated by them. So By surrounding himself with inept, ignorant and ineffective individuals like you and Ms. Netter, he can come across as the “smartest person in the room”. That says a lot because Rogers is really not the sharpest tool in the shed. Those deputies who works directly under Rogers know this but they keep their mouth closed for fear of getting fired. Can you blame them? Now I can sort of understand the many “assault on a female” charges Rogers has had in his past. When a female realizes how stupid he really is and unwittingly calls him out on it, he responds with violence. Now, he responds by getting rid of you. The Chief, Colonel or any higher ups has to play dumb or else! For Mr. Benbassat and Ms. Netter, ignorance appears to come natural, So they are safe! What they don’t know is that Rogers is going to get rid of both of them before he begin campaigning for another four years. Their stupidity and baggage would be too much of a liability. They’re just to dumb to see it coming.
Am I to understand that he got fired because he said the word “Muslim”? That’s what it looks and sounds like. I see no other justification for his termination.
If he had not mentioned muslims there would have been no problem for him. This is really sad. Our government, local, state and federal will bend over backward to accommodate the death culture of islam. It is really sickening, especially after what happened on 9/11.
I applaud Chaplain Rick Taylor for honoring his beliefs and stating the truth.
Catherine Netter, is a true Muslim. Did any of you thought for a second that “Sheriff Netter” was going to let this go??!! She has ordered Rogers to fire people for much less! Rogers is not responsible for this one… he doesnt even know which end is up. Pray for us at the GCSO….
“the procedures within the High Point Detention Facility nor the views of the Sheriff’s Office or Sheriff Danny Rogers.”…Of course they don’t. The clown Rogers would rather propagate a hate-American ideology in his jail than Christianity; all about the minorities…