Posted on 08/12/2014 3:48:34 PM PDT by markomalley
Military chaplains are calling for donated Bibles to be allowed in Navy lodges after an atheist group successfully lobbied to have them removed.
The atheist nonprofit Freedom from Religion Foundation sent a letter to the Navy complaining about the Bibles back in March. The Bibles had been donated by various Christian charities, including the famous Gideons International, who have distributed nearly 2 million Bibles to hotels, motels, hospitals, schools and prisons since its founding in 1908. This shocking discovery was brought to their attention by two FFRF member servicemen who noted that nearly every Navy lodging room theyd stayed in over the course of their careers contained a Bible.
Providing bibles to guests in Navy-run hotels amounts to a government endorsement of that religious text, the letter explains. Including bibles sends the message to non-Christian and non-religious guests that they should read the bible Such a practice alienates non-Christian guests whose religious beliefs are inconsistent with the message being promoted by the bibles, including the 20% of the U.S. population that is nonreligious.
The Navy responded a few months later, ordering the Navy Lodge General Manager to remove religious material currently in the guest rooms.
By removing bibles from Navy-run lodges, the Navy has taken a step to ensure that it is not sending the impermissible message that Christians are favored over guests with other religious beliefs or over those guests with no religion, said FFRF Staff Attorney Sam Grover at the time.
Now a chaplain advocacy group is speaking out.
A Bible in a hotel room is no more illegal than a chaplain in the military, said former chaplain Col. Ron Crews, currently Executive Director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. There is nothing wrong with allowing the Gideons to place Bibles in Navy lodges, which it has done for decades at no cost to the Navy. Our service men and women are often away from home, sometimes for long periods of time. Its perfectly constitutional and legal to allow the Gideons to provide, at their own expense, this source of comfort for service men and women of faith.
According to a 2012 Military Times poll, 76 percent of American servicemen and women identify as some kind of Christian.
Its tiresome to see senior military leaders needlessly cave in to activist groups offended by anything Christian, continued Crews. We sincerely hope that the Navy will reverse its decision as the Air Force did in 2012 after the public spoke loudly and clearly against this sort of censorship. (RELATED: Federal Court Tells Atheist Group The Ground Zero Cross Stays)
Prior to 2012, the Air Force lodging checklist included the question Is a Bible provided? After pressure from the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, the question was removed, but the Bibles themselves were not.
The Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard all have lodging and hotel programs providing discounted accommodations to active duty, reserve and retired servicemen and women and their families throughout the world.
FFRF also encourages civilians to request Bible-free rooms when staying at privately-owned hotels and motels. We shouldnt have to pay high prices to be proselytized in the privacy of our own hotel or motel room, according to FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. We shouldnt have to open our bedside table to find in it a so-called holy book which glorifies violence and discrimination against nonbelievers, women, gays and children.
About time this country told the FFRO to FO.
True
They just can’t let the Bibles lay quietly in the drawer and ignore them. They must be really afraid of what they might find and learn if they actually opened one and read it.
These “Freedom From Religion” people are both Satanic and tyrants.
Never overlook an opportunity to keep your big mouth shut.
Folks,
I am a Gideon. It’s great to learn and discuss this issue here on FR. But we need you to put pen to paper, Write your representatives and service chiefs.
Thanks.
The Secretary of the Navy, Mabus, is a pure unadulterated politically correct coward and ball-less ahole.
I’ve never seen a SecNav so useless and cowardly in my life, and I’ve known some of the greatest ones. One of Obama’s greatest appointments. /sarc/shit
Correct. All this dazzling brilliance is more noise in the choir. It is passive. Time we all got to work outside of this circle to stop the insanity.
The state religion is atheism.
Spot on analogy. Good one.
They believe in nothing. The Navy is supporting their beliefs
by providing nothing. That constitutes government supported religion. They already have their beliefs supported by an empty drawer.
True....but if they think they’re unhappy now, just wait until they land in Hell.
I don’t know which is more obnoxious and hateful. Atheists or “openly gay” homosexuals.
Doing the devils work. Satan hates competition. Atheists are happy to oblige.
Words of wisdom! +1
God Bless You!
I dont know which is more obnoxious and hateful. Atheists or openly gay homosexuals.
How about an “openly gay” homosexual atheist liberal?
Your post #23 is right on target.
So much for the old “religious neutral” requirement.
Privately donated Bibles confiscated and removed sure sounds like a government position on religion.
Time to throw their own case law back in their faces.
Also, as an aside- with the all time high suicides in the military wouldn’t one think resources could better be used doing something besides this?
For something they don’t believe in, they sure seem afraid of it.
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