CHAPLAIN ALLIANCE FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY August 20, 2013 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact CHAPLAIN ENDORSERS at info@chaplainalliance.org or call (571) 293-2427
Chaplain Alliance commends Air Force
for restoring chaplain’s essay
WASHINGTON — Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty (CALL) is commending the base commander at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska for his recent decision to repost an essay written by the base’s senior chaplain, Kenneth Reyes.
Chaplain Alliance is an organization dedicated to protecting the freedom of service members to live their faith as they protect the liberties of all Americans.
“Chaplains should be allowed to fulfill what they are commissioned to do: speak on issues of faith to military personnel,” said Chaplain (COL) Ron Crews, USAR retired, executive director of Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. “We are very grateful that the base commander rectified his earlier action and restored the piece to the base website. We trust that the duty of all Air Force chaplains to write and speak on issues of faith will continue to be safeguarded.”
Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty wrote a letter last month to base commander Col. Brian Duffy requesting that the essay be restored. A copy of the letter was sent to the Air Force judge adjutant general and to the Air Force chief of chaplains.
Reyes’ essay addressed the history of the phrase “No atheists in fox holes” on a page on the base’s website called “Chaplain’s Corner.” Though the essay merely discussed an issue of faith and in no way attempted to coerce any particular belief or action, Duffy removed Reyes’ essay from the website after receiving a complaint from Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
“Col. Duffy did the right thing in restoring the essay to the base’s website. There simply was nothing inappropriate or unconstitutional about it,” Crews said.
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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