Lawmaker: Faith Crackdown May Mean Trouble for Military
GAINESVILLE, Ga. Chaplains like Navy Lt. Cmdr. Wes Modder have been catching flak for counseling or preaching in ways faithful to their more orthodox denominations.
Their methods, however, have not been so pleasing to more liberal, politically correct elements of today's military.
Consequently, chaplains have been threatened with damaging reports in their files or even possible discharge from the ranks.
The situation has caught the attention of members of Congress, many of whom are upset over the military's harsh treatment of its clergymen.
"There seems to be an over-sensitivity to the true religious freedoms that each service member can have, whether they have faith or no faith. And chaplains are there to provide for all," Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., who was himself a military chaplain, told CBN News.
"And yet it seems like at every turn there seems to be more of a cracking down on those with faith in ways that are not proselytizing, not anything outside their normal realm of what they should be allowed to do," he said.
Collins says pushing around chaplains could well get the military in trouble with the legislators who pass the defense budgets and laws meant specifically to protect service members' religious liberties.
"It's time that they actually live up to their own standards, they actually live up to the doctrines that they put out on religious freedom and religious accommodation," Collins said.
"It's not good that the military would be doing anything to interfere with that," he continued. "So I think they just need to do what they're supposed to be doing, do what Congress said, and I think they'll be okay."
