Holy crap.

The Alabama Senate has voted to allow a church to form its own police force.

Lawmakers on Tuesday voted 24-4 to allow Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham to establish a law enforcement department.

The church says it needs its own police officers to keep its school as well as its more than 4,000 person congregation safe.

The Presbyterians need their own police?  The regular police force doesn’t have enough Tasers for Jesus?

Briarwood Presbyterian Church describes themselves in their mission statement —“For God’s glory, we are committed to equipping Christians to worship God and to reach Birmingham to reach the world for Christ.”

I wonder how excited they are going to be when the mosque forms a police force.

I bet that idea was too big to fit in any of the small minds in the Alabama legislature.

Thanks to AlanInAustin and Ralph for the heads up.

Alabama Republican Governor Robert Bentley is in a heap of trouble, especially for a guy who claims he’s a Sunday School teacher.

He was an active member of First Baptist Church Tuscaloosa where he served as a deacon and a Sunday School teacher. At FBC Tuscaloosa, he has been the chairman of the board of deacons four times and a member of the Youth for Christ advisory board as well as the Family Counseling advisory board. Bentley was the 2009 recipient of the Christian Coalition of Alabama’s Statesmanship Award.

From there, we go directly to … oh, you know what’s coming already.

The 73 year old governor was having an affair with his top political advisor, Rebekah Mason.  He set up a non-profit with his campaign funds and was paying Mason through the non-profit.  Mason, who like Bentley is married, resigned last year over the revelation that they were doing … well, the wild thing.

This morning, the Alabama Ethics Commission, and yes, they do have one of those, announced that it has found probable cause that Bentley had violated campaign ethics rules and yes, they have those, too.

The commission said it “found probable cause to believe” Bentley violated the Alabama Ethics Act and Fair Campaign Practices Act — which is the state’s campaign finance law — after a yearlong investigation. The commission referred the matter to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.