Army Chaplain Punished for Mentioning Faith

Praying012807Apparently, the Obama administration’s ostensible determination to foster “diversity” in the military is a one-way street. Army Chaplain Joseph Lawhorn was disciplined for mentioning his faith and the Bible as part of a November suicide prevention training seminar with the 5th Ranger Training Battalion. “You provided a two-sided handout that listed Army resources on one side and a biblical approach to handling depression on the other side,” wrote Col. David Fivecoat, commander of the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade at Ft. Benning, Georgia, in an official Letter of Concern. “This made it impossible for those in attendance to receive the resource information without also receiving the biblical information.”

Lawhorn received the letter following orders to appear in Col. Fivecoat’s office on Thanksgiving Day. The letter continued:

As the battalion chaplain, you are entrusted to care for the emotional wellbeing of all soldiers in the battalion. You, above all others, must be cognizant of the various beliefs held by diverse soldiers. During mandatory training briefings, it is imperative you are careful to avoid any perception you are advocating one system of beliefs over another.

The sequence of events leading to the action taken against Lawhorn should sound familiar. The session took place Nov. 20 at the University of North Georgia. Lawhorn handed out the two-sided document, recited some scripture, and explained how he used the Bible to cope with his own bout of depression. A single soldier was “offended” by Lawhorn’s presentation and reported him to the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF). Writing on behalf the MAAF, former Army Captain Jason Torpy characterized Lawhorn’s presentation as “an abuse of power and a violation of regulations.” He further accused Lawhorn of engaging in “conscience protection” which he defined as “an insidious legal tool designed to allow military chaplains to use their power and authority to evangelize vulnerable military populations.”

The Liberty Institute is defending Lawhorn. Attorney Michael Berry contends the soldier who filed the complaint “exploited” the chaplain’s “vulnerability.” “It took a great amount of courage for Chaplain Lawhorn to discuss his own personal battle with depression,” Berry explained. “At no time did he consider himself to be in a ‘preacher’ role.” Berry further insisted the Letter of Concern violated Lawhorn’s constitutional rights. “Not only is it lawful for a chaplain to talk about matters of faith and spirituality and religion in a suicide prevention training class – but the Army policy encourages discussion of matters of faith and spiritual wellness,” he told Fox News’s Todd Starnes. “The fact that one person in the class was offended changes nothing.”

Berry appears to be on solid ground. The passage of the last two National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAA), included provisions expanding the rights of service members and chaplains to express their religious beliefs. Despite that effort, a congressional hearing on the matter taking place the same day Lawhorn was doing the seminar revealed that a “tsunami of confusion” has been engendered among military commanders, chaplains and personnel attempting to determined the difference between religious practice and proselytization.

It was a hearing that didn’t sit well with former marine pilot Tom Carpenter. In a piece for the Huffington Post, he characterized it as a “set up,” where the outcome is “preordained.” He further insisted the expansion of religious rights is “an attempt by the ultra conservative Christians in Congress to allow chaplains to witness for Christ to all service members AT ALL TIMES, [emphasis original] without fear of accountability,” and that “accommodation being considered by this committee is clearly a subterfuge to allow criticizing of LGB service members and proselytizing of all non-Christians.”

Ron Crews, a retired Army chaplain and executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, testified at the hearing, citing what he believes was evidence of a double-standard. He noted that an article written by an Ohio Air National Guard member mentioning the importance of his faith and Jesus Christ was removed from an online newsletter, even as no action was taken against an airman writing a piece on atheism for a Moody Air Force Base newsletter.

Crews was quick to defend Lawhorn. “The chaplain did nothing wrong,” he explained. “At no time did he say his was the only or even the preferred way of dealing with depression. And at no time did he deny the validity of any other method. His story involves his faith journey. He was simply being a great Army chaplain – in ministering to his troops and providing first hand how he has dealt with depression in the past. That’s what chaplains do. They bare their souls for their soldiers in order to help them with crises they may be going through.”

Adding weight to that assessment is the fact that Lawhorn is a chaplain who wears the Ranger Tab, meaning his personal stories were more than likely an effort to help his fellow Rangers identify similar tribulations in their own lives.

In an interview with the Daily Signal, Lawhorn expressed that idea, further insisting he was only doing his job. “What I had tried to communicate with my audience is that depression can be conquered, depression can be overcome, and there are a myriad of ways of dealing with depression,” he explained. “In this particular case, I had struggled myself personally with the issue at hand I was teaching.”

He pushed back against the disciplinary action taken against him. “When I spoke about faith in particular, and in particular my Christian faith, it was clear that I was speaking from first-person account,” he maintained. “In my particular situation, it was my faith that helped me to persevere and remain resilient in the face of depression. And I was very clear to my audience that that was one way to handle depression and thoughts of suicide, but it certainly was not the only way.” Lawhorn further maintained that “any handout or any resource I provided soldiers who might need help was completely optional. It was up to them whether to take it or leave it.”

Col. Fivecoat was unmoved. On Dec. 12 he sent Lawhorn followup missive, “Letter of Concern Filing Determination,” in which he maintained he had “carefully considered” Lawhorn’s rebuttal, but still decided to file the Letter of Concern in the chaplain’s local file. Col. Fivecoat determined that Lawhorn’s assertions “did not disprove nor dissuade me that your actions made it impossible for those in attendance to receive the necessary resource information without also receiving biblical information.” He further insisted the Letter of Concern was a “professional development matter” and “an administrative action,” as opposed to a “punishment.” Nonetheless the letter will remain in Lawhorn’s file “for one year or until you are reassigned outside the Ranger and Training Brigade, whichever is sooner.”

Part of Lawhorn’s rebuttal included 33 letters of support from soldiers who attended the session, and those who know him personally. “They all almost universally say that he said, ‘I’m not telling you that using faith or religion or spirituality is the only way to deal with it. I’m not telling you it’s the correct way to deal with it. I’m just saying this was what worked for me,’” Berry explained. Berry also noted the complaining soldier didn’t give Lawhorn an opportunity to address his concerns. “Had Chaplain Lawhorn known of this, he would have happily sat down with this soldier and answered any questions or concerns he or she had,” Berry wrote to Col. Fivecoat. “Unfortunately, Chaplain Lawhorn was not given this opportunity–a professional courtesy–because the soldier in question alerted a civilian advocacy group, the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, who apparently then alerted a media outlet, the Huffington Post.”

Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), whose district includes the area where the seminar took place, also sent a letter to the Colonel, taking him to task. “I find it counterintuitive to have someone lead a suicide prevention course but prohibit them from providing their personal testimony,” Collins wrote.

His consternation was echoed by retired Army Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, chairman of the Restore Military Religious Freedom Coalition (RMRFC). He insisted Lawhorn’s First Amendment rights were violated and the Col. Fivecoat’s letter was in violation of Army regulation. “You cannot either force a chaplain to do something that violates their conscience or prohibit them from following their faith,” Boykin explained referencing Section 533 of the 2013 NDAA.

The RMRFC has pushed the matter up the chain of command, sending a letter to Secretary of the Army John McHugh. They want the Letter of Concern withdrawn, and Col. Fivecoat reprimanded. “I want somebody in the chain of command to sit him down and explain to him what the Constitution provides for in terms of freedom of religion as well as freedom of speech,” Boykin told CNS News.

Boykin is also vice president of the Family Research Council (FRC) that has created a petition requesting the same result. As of Dec. 18, it had 20,000 signatures. “We just simply cannot ignore this nor let it stand,” Boykin declared. “Even if there’s no long-term impact on the chaplain professionally, it can’t stand because commanders cannot abuse their power by abusing their subordinates over their conscience and their faith.”

The ultimate outcome remains to be seen, but the larger picture remains rather one-sided. The American left’s determination to socially engineer the military is as steeped in orthodoxy as any religion, yet the tenets of so-called Secular Humanism remain completely above challenge or reproach, irrespective of their effects on cohesion, morale and/or military preparedness. Moreover the notion that a chaplain should be disciplined for employing religion as part of the mix in a suicide prevention seminar is preposterous. It is clear that while the American left purports itself to be tolerant and non-judgmental, nothing could be further from the truth.

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  • Hank Rearden

    The struggle continues.

    How can it be anything other than bad faith for atheists to complain about religious observance and preaching? The atheists don’t believe. Fine. So how are they wounded by hearing from people who DO believe?

    Answer: they aren’t. It is an absurd logical and legal position and even more feeble-minded that the powers-that-be credit it as a legitimate grievance.

    What guides our troops? Judaeo-Christian morality. That is just a fact. Do away with that, and what do you have? What restraint is there? None in Islam. That we know. Yes, we have command and control, but why does that work? Because everybody is pulling in the same direction.

    If you are REALLY an atheist, how offensive is it really for you to sit through a few words of faith. If you are secular, then the Bible can be seen as literature, like listening to Shakespeare or Taylor Swift. How is that offensive? It isn’t.

    “Put a cork in it” is the right response, not sanctioning chaplains.

    And atheists are getting a freebie – they have God on their side and don’t have to do anything for it. What could be better than that?

    • Nabukuduriuzhur

      I’ve never met an atheist who didn’t believe in God.

      While there are plenty of people who don’t believe in God, atheists have an active hatred for God.

      It’s literally impossible to hate something you don’t believe exists.

      • LiveFreeOrDie

        Hmmm…. I’ll bet you are a Zeus atheist, and are not consumed with “active hatred” for him.

        • MukeNecca

          Oh, had Zeus been worshiped as the author of Good, Truth and Justice – the giver of the “Big Ten”, he too, would be an object of hate and derision of the fool.

      • Consider

        “While there are plenty of people who don’t believe in God, atheists have an active hatred for God.”
        The people who don’t believe in God are, by definition, atheists.
        The definition of atheist as those who hate God is an arbitrary ad hoc definition, in short, a stupidity.

    • Bamaguje

      The military did nothing when Major Nidal Hassan severally openly pontificated about Islam within her ranks.
      Eventually, the “Allahu Akhbar” chanting Major erupted into violent Jihad, killing 13 people.
      Even then military still covered it up as “workplace violence.”
      Christians on the hand are docile easy targets that can be pushed around.

    • Consider

      “What guides our troops? Judeo-Christian morality. That is just a fact.”
      Turn the other cheek, or some other tenet…?

      • Hank Rearden

        In victory, magnanimity.

        Care for the wounded.

        Accept surrender.

        Take prisoners.

        Treat prisoners of war well.

        But, quite frankly, if you don’t know, then I can’t really help you. Join the other side and you will find out.

        • Consider

          Perhaps this example illustrates your point well:

          Judges 3

          3:28 And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the LORD hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over. 3:29 And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man.

          • Hank Rearden

            Neither Judaism nor Christianity are pacifist doctrines. We fight wars and we win them.

            However, if YOU are a pacifist, please post your address here. When I visit your town, I will come and stay in your house, sleep in your bed while you sleep somewhere else, and have you cook my meals and do my laundry during my stay.

          • Consider

            Pacifism!?
            Who said anything about pacifism?
            We were talking about taking and treating of prisoners, in the context of Judeo-Christian tradition that is allegedly taught by the military chaplains.
            Another example from that valuable tradition, for soliders to to follow:
            31:14 And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.
            31:15 And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? …. 31:17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. 31:18 But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

            .

          • Hank Rearden

            IC

            You are misinformed. That is not what is being taught by chaplains in terms of treating prisoners.

            Gotta get up to date!

          • Consider

            That the Judeo-Christian tradition is bullshit, together with those who promulgate it, and who should be kicked out from the public institutions that includes the military…

          • Hank Rearden

            IC

            And you want to replace it with…

          • http://www.dilbert.com scook84

            The New Socialist Man!!

            The Uber Mensch!

            What else?

            (Doesn’t totalitarianism always follow the same script?)

            <3 Muah!

          • Consider

            Flock of sheep who need sheperds in the person of a chaplain.
            Cattle, in short.

          • http://www.dilbert.com scook84

            Who needs a shepherd when you have the state, right?
            <3 Muah!

          • Consider

            So, if you insist, what’s wrong with the state?
            It’s at least real, not imaginary like god.
            Muah, muah…

          • http://www.dilbert.com scook84

            It is true that the state is real enough..

            Just ask the millions that have died opposing it..

            <3 Muah!

          • Consider

            Ask millions that oposed god. This one or that one.
            Muah!

          • http://www.dilbert.com scook84

            Millions still do oppose God.. I don’t see them being slaughtered for it.

            Opposing the state is another matter, however.

            If you oppose the state:

            1. You’re audited
            2. You’re demonized
            3. You’re persecuted
            4. You’re imprisoned
            5. You’re “liquidated”

            <3 Muah!

          • Consider

            Bullshit. I would like to see you living in a society where those with biggest fists rule.
            BTW, “millions STILL opose God..”
            Still !
            One could be lead to imagine that we are witnessing evangelisation in the sea of atheism.
            While the opposite is true.

          • http://www.dilbert.com scook84

            Given all that is happening in the US today, we already do live a society where the biggest “mouth” rules..
            BTW: Millions STILL not being slaughtered for being atheist (at least in the US).
            I suggest you dial down on the meds.
            <3 Muah!

          • Consider

            How about an atheist president?
            According to pools, the majority wouldn’t vote for him (or her), regardless of everything else in his (or her) program.
            Now, one can imagine how atheists fare at ‘lower’ levels (unless they are not Bill Gates, of course).
            Wuah!

          • Consider

            “Who needs a shepherd when you have the state”
            Cattle!

          • http://www.dilbert.com scook84

            Exactly!

            An original thought is not a feature of a statist!

            All must conform, right comrade?

            <3 Muah!

          • Consider

            “All must conform, right comrade?”

            Yes, as on Sunday mass when the priest on duty keeps record who is present and who is not.

            Muah

          • http://www.dilbert.com scook84

            Your Sunday church must conform to the Social Gospel..

            I’ve not seen a church keep tabs on who attends or not.

            God already knows.

            <3 Muah!

          • Consider

            If that is not what is being taught by chaplains in terms of treating prisoners than they teach something other than the Judeo-Christian morality (as shown above). If some other morality is taught, it need not be taught by (Christian) chaplains.
            It may be taught by philosophers, sociologists political scientists etc.

          • Hank Rearden

            You have to get familiar with a word…desuetude.

            That foreskins of the Philistines stuff has fallen into desuetude and in any case was superseded by the New Testament.

            Philosophers, sociologists, political scientists (a) cannot stand up against evil; (b) cannot address the spirit; (c) cannot deal with the infinite, with death; and (d) are always the most craven followers of the latest fashion. The Academy was the first institution of German society to embrace National Socialism.

            With all respect, you are a fool and an uneducated fool, if you think otherwise. You are ignorant of the entire history of the 20th century. The Germans had claim to being the most educated, the most sophisticated culture in the world and they collapsed into unimaginable evil when they discarded God.

            The humanist philosophies of socialism, of communism were and are slaughterhouses.

            Islam is a savage barbaric death cult without God – not talking about their absurd, false, pagan moon-god.

            And lastly even you are not saying that chaplains cannot carry the message, just that others can. You are mistaken on the second part, but even with your opinion, you are not ruling out chaplains who are, after all, already there.

          • Consider

            As expected you fall back to the usual subtrefuge of denying the validity of the OT in favour of the NT, which, allegedly, for some reason is better. But let it be for the moment.
            So we are supposed to accept that chaplains manage to :
            a) stand up against the evil (even theologians of repute acknowledge that the theodicies are stupid and frivolious)
            b) can adress the spirit (if you can be kind enough to explain what ‘spirit’ is)
            c) deal with the infinite (normaly the realm of the mathematician); death, hm, what particular expertise they have regarding that phenomenon (according to Schroedinger, that means achieving the thermodynamic equilibrium)
            d) well, fashion… let it be…
            To say that the Germans succumbed to national socialism after discarding God, is utter nonsense; Hitler allways calimed to be a Catholic (and has been accepted as such by the chaplains of the day). Even his associates, like Himmler, who, seemingly, reajected Christianity , tried to build a religion based on ancient Germanic myths.
            You are judging Islam from a nonreligious viewpoint. Yes it a savage death cult, but so is Christianity if read honestly.

          • http://www.dilbert.com scook84

            Your comment, “Hitler always claimed to be a Catholic” reminds me of the very same comment Obama said..

            Contrary to your understanding, Hitler, like all totalitarians HATED religion as they believed nothing should come before the state (Goldberg, 2012;Sowell, 2012). Hitler was a strict vegetarian, believed in animal rights, and was an avid environmentalist..

            Even today’s totalitarians follow the same script!

            Once more: Totalitarians hate anything demanding allegiance to anything other than the state.

            The state is Mother.. The state is Father. Anything else is heresy.

            Some things never change.

            <3 Muah!

          • Consider

            Make an small effort , browse to quotes of what Hitler said about religion, his Catholicism etc.
            And then shut up.

          • http://www.dilbert.com scook84

            Actually, this is part of my thesis toward my doctorate..
            Reality: Fact or Fiction..
            History is not kind to your way of thinking.
            What’s your background?
            <3 Muah!

    • Consider

      BTW ” if you are REALLY an atheist, how offensive is it really for you to sit through a few words of faith.”
      It’s offensive because its an insult to intelligence.
      The Bible is not presented as literature (at least not by military chaplains) but as revealed truths, and the whole system is set to directly or indirectly force people into believing. Otherwise one get ostracised and/or harrased in multiple of subtle or less subtle ways,
      The above case is an encouraging sign that things are starting to change.

      • Headed4TheHills

        Insult to intelligence? Truly? I’ve read your posts and you’ve gotten quite a bit wrong throughout.
        Like most atheists I know (and I was one, so I know whereof I speak), you rail against the Bible, gnashing your teeth, spewing vitriol. Claiming it’s fallacy, fairy tale, bunkum. It’s a crutch for those who refuse to face reality.
        What is it about Jesus and God that incites such hatred? Is it that Jesus died for our sins? Is it that God offered up His only begotten Son as expiation for the wrongs we’ve done? What offends you so? It can’t be that those of us who believe are less intelligent than those who don’t. I’ll not bore you with a list of Christians who excel at science. I’ll ask you to research that on your own.
        I know what your issue is. You had a bad experience with a Christian at some point (“Otherwise one get ostracised and/or harrased in multiple of subtle or less subtle ways”). That mean ol’ Christian hurt your feelings and now everything about Christianity has to be wrong, a fake, a lie. What you’re doing is what I’ve seen thousands of times before. You’re taking small incidences and pointing to the whole as wrong. How about taking the whole and pointing to the incidences as wrong? Someone got it wrong, they tried to stand up to the example Jesus set and they failed. THEY got it wrong, not God, not Jesus. We Christians TRY to live up to the example we have before us (our Lord and Savior) but we cannot be perfect as He was, we can only try. There is no condemnation in Christ, but we Christians get it wrong. We condemn, we mock, we ostracize. Why? Because we are human, we are flawed beings. Jesus isn’t done making us better. He will knock off a rough edge here, smooth out a patch there, but it takes time.
        We’re not perfect, just forgiven. How about you try a lil bit o’ that forgiveness?

        • Consider

          Firstly, the usual trick ” I was an atheist but I got enlightenend…”. Baloney!

          Secondly, there is no hatred, only one may not want stupidities forced upon oneself, and that by a government institution.

          Thirdly, the “Jesus died for our sins” story. The whole story is silly, internally, so to say (leaving aside the problem of its foundation on fact). Why he had to die, he was 33.33..% God himself. It follows that he sacrificed himself to himself at least partly, where is any indication of an agreement that his scrifice would make the other two members of the God triumvirate (the Father and the Holly Ghost, the stealth fu**er) forgive our sins, he did not come to sacrifice himself voluntarly but he was caught and put to death, in the end he resurrected which means that it was not a sacrifice after all… and so on.

  • http://boogieforward.us/ K-Bob

    Anyone the least bit convinced that Jeb Bush or Chris Christie will even try to begin to roll back this contrived primacy of Islam in all forms of public policy?

    • billobillo54

      I am convinced that they won’t do one thing to expose Islam for what it is…and it’s the OPPOSITE of George Bush’s constant statement of faith that Islam is a religion of peace. Islam is the body of antichrist. The only politician that I see that might expose Islam for the extreme evil that it is is Ted Cruz. And, I am not certain that he has the wherewithal to speak the absolute truth about Islam and do what’s necessary….eliminate all Muslim immigration into the U.S. for starters.

      • http://boogieforward.us/ K-Bob

        Yep. Bush definitely laid the groundwork for barack’s willful primacy of Islam over all other religions. BUsh was naive about it. barack has played the Democrats for fools.

  • dwayne roberson

    This diversity agenda grows more sinister daily. The ‘our strength is in our diversity’ canard must be destroyed. Under the cloak of tolerance the antithesis is achieved. In truth, there is no real strength in diversity. Variety is nice, and tolerance is American, but legitimate strength in human associations is found in commonality. When common values, institutions and virtue are shared the collective strength is amazing. Freedom, self reliance, limited constitutional government, and individual rights are the common thread that has given the United States it’s legitimate strength. Progressive policy gave us gun free zones at Fort Hood. Now they want chaplains to operate in Bible free zones.The diversity agenda, in an icon, is Jonah Golberg’s book cover of ‘Liberal Fascism’ …smiley face…with Hitler mustache.

  • GSR

    Historically, the armed forces was populated by aggressive White men, with strong patriotic, traditional, right of center views. The Left couldn’t stand that and had to change into just another government employee voting bloc for the Dems.

    Thus ,(laughable) 95lb young women “soldiers”, non-Whites, non-US citizens, homosexuals and even the “trans-gendered” (no such thing).
    The Left’s mission is complete.

    • mtman2

      That description is true, sad but in retrospect funny as it is disfunctional in the face of what lies before it to conquer……NOT!
      The 1st major wartime dieoff(sorry to say) will cause some real butt kicking in high places as the public gets incensed and things will revert to reality in order to take the field of battle.
      By then the Globalist U.N. may also get the boot from all the “Police-Actions” they ‘mandate’ and Democrat habit of 1/2 arses wars while giving away the farm and planet to the commies and other sworn enemies ~!

  • dwayne roberson

    I am not sure if this was an optional session or not. Was the “offended” soldier in voluntary attendance? I’m sorry, but chaplains I have met are not spiritual bullies. Have a Merry Winter!

  • cacslewisfan

    “Lighten up Francis.” – Sargent Hulka

    • Headed4TheHills

      *applause*
      cacslewisfan for the win

  • namberak

    You read depressing garbage like this, it’s hard not to at least wonder, cuts to defense or not, whether the US could win a war now if it had to. Between the world wars socialist parasites so undermined the morale of the French Army that it collapsed at the first blow from Germany in 1940. Sure, there were certainly many military blunders in the field, but the French were missing the support of knowing and believing what they were fighting for. France had been rotted away from within by those parasites. As a student of history I’m forced to ask, where are we now?

    • dwayne roberson

      A plate of 1928, served alongside another plate of 1938, with lots of gravy, and a 9/11 open desert bar.

    • bigjulie

      I am an atheist, but one has to wonder about Col. Fivecoat’s intent in reprimanding a CHAPLAIN for expressing his experience with his Christian faith in trying to help deal with a soldier’s depression. Just what does the good Colonel expect a CHAPLAIN to do?
      I’m sorry, but Colonel Fivecoat is an asshole!

  • kiwi41

    The real evil here is in the form of Colonel Fivecoat……………..any guesses as to his ethnicity. You really couldn’t make this $hit up. I hope the RMRFC hang the colonel out to dry.

    And I’d wonder what ” faith ” the complainant really is ……………….As an atheist, I have no problem with any religion , other than the death cult of iz slime.

    Bloody disqus censorship !

    • mtman2

      Hadn’t noticed censorship from them, but am using lo-key languaging.
      But it is sad that an Army Chaplain, same ones that got us thru the wars with the British to be free, can’t do their job now when it may be the one thing that can help a soldier.
      Obviously a soldier has free choice unless it’s taken out of the equation and away like this ~!

  • RL

    The continued ruination of a Once Great Nation!

  • tagalog

    Let me see if I’ve got this right: a CHAPLAIN got into trouble for placing written references to RELIGIOUS approaches to dealing with depression in a handout because the handout he distributed was offensive to one atheist soldier?

    What is offensive about a religious reference to one who doesn’t believe in God? At worst it’s just irrelevant to him.

    What happened to MEN being in the Army? Oh wait, I forgot; we let the girls in now.

    Maybe it’s time for the Army to get rid of chaplains.

    • dwayne roberson

      I think they are now doing just that.

    • kiwi41

      Maybe it’s time for a military coup , with summary execution for ALL traitors in the employment of the government.

  • timpottorff

    More evidence that the ‘tolerant’ ones cannot tolerant dissent. The left must have uniformity of thought or else. They talk of ‘freedom’ but it doesn’t look like the freedom that built this once great nation. We are a mere blip on the timeline of history. The barbarians have infiltrated the school system and are entrenched in the governing elite. The ‘transformational’ president is pushing forward to cripple our nation and the compliant media looks the other way. Unless there is a major national crisis, either economically or physically, to wake us from our sleep to oust these parasites, we will crumble into a third-rate nation.
    Without a coherent conservative world view, the people of our country have no clear direction. Without clear direction, they will wander in the wilderness and the country will be changed seemingly overnight…but actually we could see it coming for decades.

    • Hank Rearden

      …and the Left HATES NORMALITY!!

      They see a normal, happy social group – be it an Army unit, a family, a working business, a neighborhood – and they have to ruin it! THAT is what is REALLY going on here.

      The complainant isn’t really offended for himself, he HATES the sustenance the others are getting from it.

  • cree

    Before the aggrieved classes made full use of exploiting discontent and got sanction to tell the rest of us what we could and could not do, they simply had the free choice to except or reject anything they wanted. That had worked as well as could be expected, until… No one really had any reason to complain because nothing was and still is not forced.

    What works isn’t good enough for leftists because some kind of grievance is always tormenting them and they in turn afflict the vast majority of the rest without mercy with self righteous delight and then some kind of severe punishment for just being socially neutral or indifferent. It seems they just can’t stand that. It’s all for that preparation for their utopia, don’t you know?

  • Peter Castle

    This is a continued attack against Jesus – just as King Herod did 2,000 years ago.

    See “True Meaning of Christmas” at http://wp.me/p4scHf-6w.

  • FedUpWithWelfareStates

    Chaplains, Evangelical Christian Preachers, etc. the very first thing you need to remember when conducting ANY kind of training outside of the pulpit, is to FIRST ask if there is anyone in the audience who will be offended if anything is mentioned concerning biblical information…when it comes to H/Os’, keep them separate & just have them laid out on a table in the back of the venue. This way a person has to pick up the flyer/brochure as a voluntary act…thus clearing you…time to get smart & fight back.

  • Bob Sten

    Christians should ban joining the services until this changes. The military would then change right quick.

    • kiwi41

      That would please the PONS in DC, then its masters would have considerably less opposition when it hands them the keys…..

  • tagalog

    Why doesn’t somebody just tell the atheists that they ought to stay away from the chaplains if they don’t want to be offended by religion?

    I thought that atheists try to pass themselves off as smarter than the rest of us religious folks. I guess that was a mistake.

    • Tim Hains

      Yeah, what was the atheist doing listening to a chaplain anyway?

    • mark

      Atheists have done much to make the muslims proud of them by attacking christianity.

      But of course being muslims, they also cannot wait to behead the atheists. raping them, their wives and children and stealing their possessions.

  • USARetired

    Those responsible for persecuting this Chaplin should be dealt with severely. We still live in a Christian Nation and those who object must find elsewhere reside!

  • Tim Hains

    This is one of the silliest things I’ve ever read. He is the CHAPLAIN(!) after all. Colonel Fivecoat sounds like he needs fragged.

  • vonrock

    Festering boils for Barack !

  • reyol

    Ironically, the Army (as does the other services) has Mental Health professionals that would be better suited for the Army’s approach to Suicide Prevention. However, these people sit in their offices and expect Soldiers to keep their appointments or they will make their displeasure known to the highest rung of the chain-of-command. Chaplains are trained to go out to the troops wherever they are and find problems. This is why they are made further useful by being assigned as Suicide Prevention officers. Perhaps the chaplains should be relieved of this additional duty of “causing death by powerpoint” and the Mental Health professionals should make themselves useful by taking on what is, ostensibly, their field of expertise.

    • billobillo54

      Great point…however, as a Christian, I want a preacher of the gospel and not a mere rationalist. “The gospel is the power of God unto salvation…” The gospel WORKS, DELIVERS, SAVES, HEALS, COMFORTS, PURIFIES, SANCTIFIES, STRENGTHENS, FREES…BECAUSE THE PRINCE OF PEACE IS THE GOSPEL.

  • mark

    Ah so it was the association of militant, rabid and non thinking Atheists and Freesthinkers,

  • badenguru

    Diversity is the Trojan horse of Islam. Erode what American values are left since we can pray in our schools and have to accommodate those professing to be Islamic adherents on the strength of equal rights. No more Christmas celebrations anywhere because it offends. Australia had it right fit in or get out.

  • herb benty

    This is America folks! A Christian Army Chaplin can’t mention Christianity or he will be punished. Thanks for the transformation Mr Obama. Our Founders had a church, IN Congress, and the U.S.A. became the world Leader. Now…..no prayer or mention of our glorious Lord God or His Word, and America disintegrates. Not complicated, really.

    • billobillo54

      God bless you Bro Herb.

  • georgejochnowitz

    ISIS is trying to teach the world what blind faith means. Nobody is learning.

    • cjkcjk

      Wow, moral equivalency is brain rot at it’s worst.

  • donqpublic

    And Rational Emotive Therapy, Transactional Analysis, and Psychoanalysis are not systems of belief? Why have a Chaplin? Why not an astrologer or a goat entrails reader: ah, but those are systems of belief too. What a crock of caca.

  • billobillo54

    Dear antisharia: You hit the nail on the head. This is all about progressive, secularist, atheist hegemony and dominance. They are opening the way for the ultimate antimessiah-Islam.

  • slicerdicer

    January 21st, 2016, chaplain’s will be allowed to be religious again.

    • JVR

      Dream on…

  • Chris Gait

    The country allowed this to happen. They accepted the left’s positions, kept them in office for decades, allowed them to take control of the CIA, the military, etc., gave a virulently anti-American ‘organizer’ the White House, twice. I saw this garbage starting to set up in the military 25 years ago. Now it is reaching a point of no return. The only thing that is keeping people enlisting is the low availability of decent jobs. Same situation I had when I came in, under Carter. Only now we have someone much worse than Carter, twice.

    The country is getting what it wanted. This is the type of people they want. Chaplains punished for being religious and a president who hates America. I’m just going to shut up and enjoy Christmas and turn of the news for a while.

    • GSR

      Exactly right. Well put.

  • JVR

    Impeccably of no faith whatsoever.

  • rhondajo3

    We have a Muslim in office who actually thinks that this is no longer a Christian nation. This administration is desperately trying to wipe Christianity off the US map, and it is starting with the military. Obama wants to turn the US into a Muslim country with sharia law, and he wants to be its dictator. Excuse me while I go puke…

    • Consider

      From the Treaty of Tripoli of June 10, 1797 signed by the then president John Adams;

      “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion;…etc”
      The US was more advanced in the eighteenth century than it is today.

  • JD

    I find it interesting that Colonel Fivecoat read the way the wind is blowing – given that every colonel thinks that long ago they should have been promoted to general – and acted accordingly. I am glad there is push back and assistance from the Family Research Council, Restore Military Religious Freedom Coalition, the Liberty Institute, and our own congress including language in the National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAA). And, with all that Colonel Fivecoat thought is was in his best interests to reprimand his battalion champlain. Nevertheless, Colonel Fivecoat has ruined any chance for further promotion and even any leeway in future assignments for this chaplain and he knows it. In today’s army, as in my day, it just takes one blemish to halt and often finish an officer’s career.

    A brief bio of Colonel Fivecoat indicates he is a USMA graduate and a graduate of the CGSC, Fort Leavenworth. He has several combat assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan and has written in key army journals of his experiences. So, it is really disturbing that an officer of this caliber as an infantryman has chosen to treat his battalion chaplain in this manner. My point is that if senior field grade officers are taking this approach, what must they be thinking is key to getting them ahead in their careers? This does not bode well for an army winning on the battlefield of the future.

    By the way, when I was in the army, 20 years ago, the opposite would have occurred. The soldier that complained to this civilian group would have been reprimanded, not necessarily formally, for going outside the chain of command in dealing with a concern. In my mind, he should still be reprimanded. However, it is clear that he is part of a special protected group that makes a full colonel jump to!

    In a far more important matter, Is it any wonder that the army’s colonels and generals that know full well what went down in Benghazi are silent? What other battles have been lost and initiatives abdoned that we are not hearing about because this administration has spread fear of careers ended and even retaliation should the truth come to light?

    • Mjolnir

      Since we all know that being promoted to O7 requires political skill and an ear to the political ground, I assume the good Colonel understood that in order to get promoted under the Obama administration, he had to reprimand the chaplain for engaging in the free practice of religion – a fundamental right that Obama is fully determined to see eliminated.

      • Consider

        May ISIS freely practice religion in your neighborhood.

        • Mjolnir

          WTF? If you have something intelligent to say, then say it. Don’t post meaningless juvenile snarky witlessicisms.

          • Consider

            Write something that is not nonsense.

  • Headed4TheHills

    herb, ol’ buddy, you a preacher some where?

    • herb benty

      No way, just an ex-logger, tugboater, who always found time to read “something good”( as Mom always advised), before sleep.

  • USARetired

    Actions such as this injustice to a young Officer make me ashamed of the 30 years I spent in the U.S.Army! i certainly would not repeat one day under current conditions!

  • Consider

    If I join the Army I don’t want my intelligence to be insulted.

    • Hank Rearden

      That’s not it at all.

      As as Lefty, you hate normality. You can’t stand to see people contented with getting on in life. It drives you up the wall to see the support, the sustenance that your comrades get from religion. So rather than just sitting quietly for a very few minutes and keeping your peace as we all do socially frequently in order to grease human relations, you want to have a tantrum. Because you are unhappy, you want everybody else to be. That is what is going on here.

      This being America, I very very strongly suspect that the assembly in question is voluntary. You go if it helps you, you don’t if it doesn’t. Probably been true since the beginning of the Republic.

      But it is normal, successful, sustaining to its congregants and you as a Lefty just can’t stand that. Militant atheism is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. There is no logic to it.

      You are making an issue where none really exists. That is the truth of the matter. “Insults your intelligence.” Our intelligence is insulted every day. A balanced person lives with it. A good person rejoices is the comfort of his comrades.

      That is not you.

      • Consider

        Who told you that I am a Lefty?
        I am neither a Lefty nor a Righty.
        I just go through the web look for intelectual rubbish and argue.

  • uisconfruzed

    What’s the symbol for a chaplain? I don’t know now, it used to be a cross. Christianity IS the chaplain’s business. If you don’t like it, Du-Oh! DON’T ATTEND!!

    • Consider

      What with the Jews?
      No chaplains for them?

      • uisconfruzed

        I don’t know, rabbi chaplain?

        • Consider

          So is Christianity the chaplain’s business or it is not?

  • mtman2

    “Well” the early Christ followers actually had an excuse to hide or be burned on garden stakes or fed to lions……….
    But WE Americans have NOT ONE EXCUSE, as nothing has seriously been done to stand against the inroads as true Faith waned so by 1954 a socialist monster like LBJ when churches stood against him and he introduced 501c3′s (greed+fear reigned), then in 1963+4 both the Christian Bible and prayer is banned from public schools.
    Look up the massive fight to stop this along with public outrage???
    Oh yeah, there was NONE.
    So why would the socialist/commie illitists stop now? What because they respect us? …..or fear us, HAH!!!
    “You got to serve somebody”- Bob Dylan
    “Choose you this day whom you will serve” – Joshua 24:15
    Well somebodies servin somebody, it ain’t the one that brought here ~!