ANDERSON, S.C. — An atheist's complaint has led South Carolina troopers to stop using state money to send a book including Bible passages to the family members of people who die in wrecks.
Public Safety Department spokesman Sherri Iacobelli said the agency immediately reversed course on the book titled A Time to Grieve after receiving a letter from the American Humanist Association on behalf of an atheist whose father died.
American Humanist Association Legal Director David Niose said the atheist, whom he did not name, was stunned at the content of the book troopers sent her, which includes a chapter titled "If God Seems Far Away," seemingly in violation of the separation of church and state.
The state spent $6,426 to buy the books using fees for accident reports and miscellaneous public funds.