CHAPLAIN ALLIANCE FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY April 11, 2014 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact CHAPLAIN ENDORSERS at info@chaplainalliance.org or call (571) 293-2427
Chaplains commend congressional actions
concerning censorship by Air Force Academy
WASHINGTON — Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty is commending Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., and Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., for their bipartisan leadership in sending a letter to the superintendent of the Air Force Academy concerning recent censorship. Leaders of the academy last month removed a Bible verse from the personal whiteboard of a cadet after receiving a complaint from an anti-religious activist.
“No Americans, especially those who defend our freedom, should be denied their constitutionally protected religious liberties,” said Chaplain (Col.) Ron Crews, USAR retired, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. “We thank the 41 members of Congress who signed this strong letter, which raises serious questions concerning the Air Force Academy’s actions to restrict the religious liberty of cadets.”
“We also commend Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, for his probing questions concerning this matter to the Secretary of the Air Force during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday,” Crews added.
Crews said that the academy’s recent removal of a Bible verse from a cadet’s personal whiteboard in the hall outside his room “puts Christians in the closet and violates both his constitutionally protected rights and federal law.”
The military erased the Bible verse, Gal. 2:20, in response to a complaint filed by Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
The academy’s censorship of the cadet clearly violates a provision in Section 533 of the FY13 National Defense Authorization Act that protects military members from religious discrimination.
“I look forward to reading the answers to the nine questions raised by the congressional letter and sincerely hope that the academy will respect the right of cadets to appropriately live out their faith while serving in the Air Force,” said Crews.
Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty is an organization of chaplain endorsers, the faith groups that provide chaplains for the U.S. military and other agencies needing chaplains. The endorsers in Chaplain Alliance speak for more than 2,600 chaplains serving the Armed Forces.
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