Jail Chaplain Suspended Over "Anti-Islam" Booklets

Here we go again. Commence with the rage and seething. And of course, one of the usual suspects is involved.

Rockland jail suspends chaplain over anti-Islam booklets

NEW CITY - The chaplain at the Rockland County jail has been suspended after she distributed religious booklets that condemn Islam and contain derogatory depictions and descriptions of Allah and the prophet Muhammad, officials said.

Teresa Darden Clapp, an ordained Christian minister and the jail's chaplain since 1994, was suspended with pay yesterday pending the outcome of an investigation to determine possible disciplinary action, said the jail's chief, William Clark.

The suspension is for the protection of both Clapp and the inmates, Clark said.

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

In the cartoon panel stories, a tract titled "Men of Peace?" says Islamic fundamentalists who commit terrorist acts are not "bad Muslims" but "very good Muslims" who act in accordance with their religion. The tract called "Allah Has No Son" says Allah is not God, Muhammad was no prophet and the Quran is not the word of God.

Both stories end with people being convinced that Islam is false. In one ending, a Muslim is contrite on learning he is worshipping a false idol and converts to Christianity.

Robert Matias, a Muslim inmate, took exception to the booklets.

"I think it's a beautiful religion," Matias, who is jailed on a parole violation charge, said yesterday.

The booklets were from Chick Publications, a company that produces gospel tracts and other media to advocate Christianity and condemn religions it deems false, including Islam and Roman Catholicism.

Jail officials don't know how many tracts were distributed. They found out about the booklets after an inmate complained about two weeks ago.

Clark said Clapp was ordered to stop distributing the booklets.

Any literature that is to be distributed to inmates will now be vetted by a jail captain, Clark added.

Muslim inmates said they were deeply hurt and offended by the tracts, adding that other inmates' belief in the information has led to verbal altercations and to inmates labeling Muslim detainees devil worshippers.

Clark said no incidents of hostility relating to the tracts had occurred.

"You think it's depressing being an inmate," said Kenny Kidd, 48, who is in jail on burglary charges. "Try putting 'Muslim' before 'inmate.'

"And to add salt to a wound," Kidd, of Queens, added, "we have a chaplain passing out pamphlets calling our God the devil and our prophet a dictator."

A label on the back of booklets in the jail contains the name and address of Upper Room House of Worship, a Spring Valley church where Clapp is believed to be minister.

A phone line at the church rang without a response Tuesday and yesterday, and Clapp's home phone number was not in service yesterday.

In a Tuesday interview, Clark said the jail had respect for every inmate's religious beliefs.

Of the tract he saw, he said: "I didn't believe it belonged in this setting. I mean, people have different beliefs here, and we have to honor all of them."

Clapp, a full-time staffer at the jail, started out as a correction officer in 1989 and became the chaplain in February 1994.

"She does a tremendous job here," Clark said. "Nothing like this has ever happened before."

The Muslim inmates said the misinformation in the pamphlets was compounded by the fact that there were drawings of Muhammad.

"First and foremost, you're never going to see a picture of the prophet ... you're not going to, period," said Kareem Thomas, 28, of Newark, N.J.

Drawings or other images of Allah or Muhammad are prohibited in Islam.

Kidd said he didn't want anyone to lose his or her livelihood over the incident but said he and his fellow Muslim inmates wanted their religion not to be defamed.

All religions have their good and bad elements, said inmate Cesar Savinon, 20, of Haverstraw. But Islam doesn't compel belief, he and others said.

Dorian Epps, 43, of Spring Valley said he and other inmates have sought psychological counseling because of the offensiveness of the booklets and the resulting anti-Islam reaction from the inmates in the jail's population.

"What makes is so bad is the pamphlet is laid out in the form of teaching somebody our religion, and they're teaching nothing but falsehood from beginning to end," said Epps, who is serving time at the jail as he awaits sentencing on a burglary conviction.

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, an Islamic civil rights and advocacy group, said his organization had received many complaints about Chick Publications booklets.

"I think it's entirely inappropriate for someone in a position of authority in a correctional facility to hand out hate-filled materials that can incite hostility against ... inmates of any faith," Hooper said, "and I would think it (would) be entirely appropriate to remove that person from their position."

Here's a tip to the inmates on how to avoid such humiliation: Don't be a criminal.