“Our complainant informs us that [chaplains] continually read verses from the Bible, particularly Psalms and Proverbs, which are followed by a prayer,” Kratz’s legal brief says. It also called on Gates to launch a probe into the matter. “On Sundays’ shift change briefings, our complainant informs us the prayer and Bible readings are similar to a whole sermon.
“The current practice of offering official chaplain-led prayers during mandatory nonreligious shift change briefings violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The chaplains’ actions during these routine staff meetings effectively send the message that the U.S. military endorses religion,” specifically favoring “Christianity over other religious faiths. In addition, holding Bible readings and prayers during mandatory briefings unlawfully compels religious and nonreligious personnel to participate in religious exercises.”
Gates has not responded to Kratz’s letter. A Pentagon spokesman said last week he could not comment because he was unfamiliar with the matter and was unaware whether Gates or the Pentagon's legal counsel had received Kratz’s letter. Attempts to reach the chaplains who led the mandatory Christian prayer sessions were unsuccessful.
Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), has written to the Secretary of Defense and his most senior staff at least half-a-dozen times since Gates was tapped as Secretary of Defense, November of 2006. Recently, MRFF and Army Spc. Dustin Chalker sued Gates and others, claiming the Army has subjected soldiers to fundamentalist Christian prayer ceremonies against their will, during mandatory military events.
On at least three occasions, beginning in December 2007, Chalker alleges he was directed to attend military events, one of which was a barbecue, where an Army battalion chaplain led a Christian prayer ceremony for military personnel. Chalker, who said he is an atheist, asked his superiors for permission to leave the prayer sessions, and on each occasion, his request to be excused was denied, according to the lawsuit.
Despite Chalker’s objections to being ordered to attend fundamentalist Christian prayer sessions, his Army superiors continued, forcing him to attend other military events where the prayer ceremonies continued.
“This federal litigation by MRFF is actually far more expansive,” Weinstein said. “The central theme of the MRFF-Chalker lawsuit is to once and for all expose a pervasive and pernicious 'pattern and practice' of essentially unconstitutional rape of the religious liberties of our United States armed forces personnel, stationed at nearly a thousand military installations, in 132 countries around the world.”
Two weeks ago, MRFF exposed the Pentagon’s involvement in the production of two cable programs, one of which featured two so-called “extreme” missionaries embedded with a U.S. Army unit in Afghanistan trying to convert Muslims to Christianity.
The popular reality series, "Travel the Road," aired on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, featuring Will Decker and Tim Scott, the two so-called "extreme" missionaries who travel the globe to “preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth and encourage the church to be active in the Great Commission.”
The other cable program, green-lit by the Pentagon, was “God’s Soldier,” which aired in September on the Military Channel and was filmed at Forward Operating Base McHenry in Hawijah, Iraq. It featured an Army chaplain openly promoting fundamentalist Christianity to active-duty U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
Weinstein, the author of With God on Our Side: One Man's War Against an Evangelical Coup in America's Military, and a former White House attorney under Ronald Reagan, general counsel for H. Ross Perot, and an Air Force Judge Advocate (JAG), has exposed scores of cases in which the Department of Defense has promoted and sanctioned fundamentalist Christian proselytizing among U.S. soldiers in violation of the U.S. Constitution, its subsequently established federal case law and military regulations. Weinstein is a 1977 honor graduate of the Academy. His sons and a daughter-in-law are also Academy graduates.
The most egregious case of the Pentagon’s close ties with Christian fundamentalist groups was formally investigated by the Pentagon’s inspector general, as a result of a highly publicized complaint lodged by Weinstein’s group in 2006: High-ranking Defense Department military and civilian officials appeared in a video promoting the fundamentalist organization Christian Embassy. The military officials were in uniform, inside the Pentagon, during duty hours, in this evangelical promotional video.
In a 45-page inspector general report, Air Force Maj. Gen. Jack Catton, Army Brig. Gen. Bob Caslen, Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, Maj. Gen. Peter Sutton, and a colonel and lieutenant colonel whose names were redacted were all found to have "improperly endorsed and participated with a non-Federal entity while in uniform."
Caslen was formerly the deputy director for political-military affairs for the war on terrorism, directorate for strategic plans and policy, joint staff. Following this report, he was initially reassigned to the prestigious position of West Point Commandant of Cadets, overseeing 4,200 cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point. Currently, he commands the famous 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks in Honolulu. Caslen told DOD investigators he agreed to appear in the video upon learning other senior Pentagon officials had been interviewed for the promotional video.
At least one senior military official defended his actions, according to the inspector general's report, saying the "Christian Embassy had become a 'quasi-Federal entity,' since the DoD had endorsed the organization to General Officers (i.e., all officers at the rank of General) for over 25 years."
Perhaps no other fundamentalist Christian group has been as successful as Military Ministry, when it comes to infiltrating the military. Military Ministry is a national organization and a subsidiary of the controversial fundamentalist Christian organization Campus Crusade for Christ. Military Ministry's national web site boasts that it has successfully "targeted" basic training installations, or "gateways," and has successfully converted thousands of soldiers to evangelical Christianity.
“The current practice of offering official chaplain-led prayers during mandatory nonreligious shift change briefings violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The chaplains’ actions during these routine staff meetings effectively send the message that the U.S. military endorses religion,” specifically favoring “Christianity over other religious faiths. In addition, holding Bible readings and prayers during mandatory briefings unlawfully compels religious and nonreligious personnel to participate in religious exercises.”
Gates has not responded to Kratz’s letter. A Pentagon spokesman said last week he could not comment because he was unfamiliar with the matter and was unaware whether Gates or the Pentagon's legal counsel had received Kratz’s letter. Attempts to reach the chaplains who led the mandatory Christian prayer sessions were unsuccessful.
Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), has written to the Secretary of Defense and his most senior staff at least half-a-dozen times since Gates was tapped as Secretary of Defense, November of 2006. Recently, MRFF and Army Spc. Dustin Chalker sued Gates and others, claiming the Army has subjected soldiers to fundamentalist Christian prayer ceremonies against their will, during mandatory military events.
Despite Chalker’s objections to being ordered to attend fundamentalist Christian prayer sessions, his Army superiors continued, forcing him to attend other military events where the prayer ceremonies continued.
“This federal litigation by MRFF is actually far more expansive,” Weinstein said. “The central theme of the MRFF-Chalker lawsuit is to once and for all expose a pervasive and pernicious 'pattern and practice' of essentially unconstitutional rape of the religious liberties of our United States armed forces personnel, stationed at nearly a thousand military installations, in 132 countries around the world.”
Two weeks ago, MRFF exposed the Pentagon’s involvement in the production of two cable programs, one of which featured two so-called “extreme” missionaries embedded with a U.S. Army unit in Afghanistan trying to convert Muslims to Christianity.
The popular reality series, "Travel the Road," aired on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, featuring Will Decker and Tim Scott, the two so-called "extreme" missionaries who travel the globe to “preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth and encourage the church to be active in the Great Commission.”
The other cable program, green-lit by the Pentagon, was “God’s Soldier,” which aired in September on the Military Channel and was filmed at Forward Operating Base McHenry in Hawijah, Iraq. It featured an Army chaplain openly promoting fundamentalist Christianity to active-duty U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
Weinstein, the author of With God on Our Side: One Man's War Against an Evangelical Coup in America's Military, and a former White House attorney under Ronald Reagan, general counsel for H. Ross Perot, and an Air Force Judge Advocate (JAG), has exposed scores of cases in which the Department of Defense has promoted and sanctioned fundamentalist Christian proselytizing among U.S. soldiers in violation of the U.S. Constitution, its subsequently established federal case law and military regulations. Weinstein is a 1977 honor graduate of the Academy. His sons and a daughter-in-law are also Academy graduates.
The most egregious case of the Pentagon’s close ties with Christian fundamentalist groups was formally investigated by the Pentagon’s inspector general, as a result of a highly publicized complaint lodged by Weinstein’s group in 2006: High-ranking Defense Department military and civilian officials appeared in a video promoting the fundamentalist organization Christian Embassy. The military officials were in uniform, inside the Pentagon, during duty hours, in this evangelical promotional video.
In a 45-page inspector general report, Air Force Maj. Gen. Jack Catton, Army Brig. Gen. Bob Caslen, Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, Maj. Gen. Peter Sutton, and a colonel and lieutenant colonel whose names were redacted were all found to have "improperly endorsed and participated with a non-Federal entity while in uniform."
Caslen was formerly the deputy director for political-military affairs for the war on terrorism, directorate for strategic plans and policy, joint staff. Following this report, he was initially reassigned to the prestigious position of West Point Commandant of Cadets, overseeing 4,200 cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point. Currently, he commands the famous 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks in Honolulu. Caslen told DOD investigators he agreed to appear in the video upon learning other senior Pentagon officials had been interviewed for the promotional video.
At least one senior military official defended his actions, according to the inspector general's report, saying the "Christian Embassy had become a 'quasi-Federal entity,' since the DoD had endorsed the organization to General Officers (i.e., all officers at the rank of General) for over 25 years."
Perhaps no other fundamentalist Christian group has been as successful as Military Ministry, when it comes to infiltrating the military. Military Ministry is a national organization and a subsidiary of the controversial fundamentalist Christian organization Campus Crusade for Christ. Military Ministry's national web site boasts that it has successfully "targeted" basic training installations, or "gateways," and has successfully converted thousands of soldiers to evangelical Christianity.
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