"The Army generals who appeared in the video appeared to be speaking on
behalf of the military, but they did not obtain prior permission to
appear in the video. They defended their 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 for over 25 years."
Portion of article below; whole thing here: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/091807R.shtml
"A military watchdog organization filed a lawsuit in federal court
Tuesday against the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and a
US Army major, on behalf of an Army soldier stationed in Iraq. The suit
charges the Pentagon with widespread constitutional violations by
allegedly trying to force the soldier to embrace evangelical
Christianity and then retaliating against him when he refused.
The complaint, filed in US District Court in Kansas City, by the
nonprofit Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), on behalf of
Jeremy Hall, an Army specialist currently on active duty in Speicher,
Iraq, alleges that Hall's First Amendment rights were violated
beginning last Thanksgiving when, because of his atheist beliefs, he
declined to participate in a Christian prayer ceremony commemorating
the holiday.
"Immediately after plaintiff made it known he would decline to join
hands and pray, he was confronted, in the presence of other military
personnel, by the senior ranking ... staff sergeant who asked plaintiff
why he did not want to pray, whereupon plaintiff explained because he
is an atheist," says the lawsuit, a copy of which was provided to
Truthout. "The staff sergeant asked plaintiff what an atheist is and
plaintiff responded it meant that he (plaintiff) did not believe in
God. This response caused the staff sergeant to tell plaintiff that he
would have to sit elsewhere for the Thanksgiving dinner. Nonetheless,
plaintiff sat at the table in silence and finished his meal."
Moreover, the complaint alleges that on August 7, when Hall received
permission by an Army chaplain to organize a meeting of other soldiers
who shared his atheist beliefs, his supervisor, Army Major Paul
Welborne, broke up the gathering and threatened to retaliate against
the soldier by charging him with violating the Uniform Code of Military
Justice. The complaint also alleges that Welborne vowed to block Hall's
reenlistment in the Army if the atheist group continued to meet - a
violation of Hall's First Amendment rights under the Constitution.
Welborne is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
"During the course of the meeting, defendant Welborne confronted the
attendees, disrupted the meeting and interfered with plaintiff Hall's
and the other attendees' rights to discuss topics of their interests,"
the lawsuit alleges.
has been forced to "submit to a religious test as a qualification to
his post as a soldier in the United States Army," a violation of
Article VI, Clause 3 of the Constitution.
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