(AgapePress) - A Wisconsin pastor calls it a sign of the times: a city official's recruitment of a Vietnamese monk to train police and other municipal workers in the ways of Zen Buddhism. Next month the police, firefighters and healthcare workers of Madison, Wisconsin, will undergo training with the Buddhist monk as part of a stress management workshop.

Pastor Ralph Ovadal, director of Wisconsin Christians United, believes the Madison community would be up in arms if officials wanted to bring in an evangelical pastor to train police officers -- "but because it's a Zen Buddhist monk, it's been in the newspaper, and people are saying it's a wonderful thing," he says.

"They're saying now these police officers are going to find peace in their lives. But what they're doing is opening a doorway for the devil to come in -- and it's going to be anything but peace that's brought into their life," he says.

The police captain who tapped the Buddhist monk for the training is not only Buddhist herself, but also homosexual. Ovadal says local pastors should be raising concerns. He feels that not only are taxpayers' dollars being wasted on the workshop, a five-day retreat where participants will focus on learning relaxation techniques, but also that the anti-Christian influence of the training may prove dangerous.

"I wouldn't want my police officers being trained by a Zen Buddhist monk. This could have some serious ramifications out on the street. Buddhism is the devil's religion -- it has nothing to do with Christ. I think pastors should call up the Madison Police Department and express some concerns," Ovadal says.

A representative of the American Civil Liberties Union -- an organization normally quick to voice opposition to government-sponsored religious activity -- said he was not familiar with the workshop event but would look into it.

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