CHAPLAIN ALLIANCE FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY January 24, 2014 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact CHAPLAIN ENDORSERS at info@chaplainalliance.org or call (571) 293-2427
Chaplains commend DOD for first steps
toward providing religious liberty for military personnel
WASHINGTON — Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty is commending the U.S. Department of Defense for some recently announced policy changes that should allow for greater religious accommodation in the Armed Forces.
“No American, especially those who wear our nation’s military uniforms, should be denied their God-given, constitutionally protected religious liberties,” said Chaplain (COL) Ron Crews, USAR, retired, executive director for Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. “I am grateful that the Department of Defense has listened to Congress and issued implementation guidance based on amendments passed in the 2012 and 2013 National Defense Authorization Act. The policy changes put the burden on commanders to prove why they cannot accommodate sincerely held religious speech and practice rather than making the service member prove that his religious speech and practice should be allowed.”
“Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty continues to receive news from the field about chaplains being censured for sermons they preach and service members being told not to speak about their faith,” Crews explained. “We are hopeful the new guidelines will protect these service members as well.”
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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