Great Lakes naval center dismisses religious volunteers for minority faiths

[rug]

Volunteer worship leaders notified of Navy policy change last month

May 12, 2015, 1:57 PM
By Manya Brachear Pashman
Chicago Tribune

Great Lakes Naval Training Center has dismissed a number of civilian volunteers who offered services for a handful of minority religious traditions, including Unitarian Universalism, the Baha'i faith, Buddhism, Christian Science, Church of Christ and Earth-centered traditions, also called nature worship..

The ouster, conveyed to volunteers last month, echoed a similar expulsion last May in which Muslim leaders were dismissed. That decision was rescinded a month later, with a caveat that if uniformed personnel were available to lead, volunteers would be asked to step aside.

Critics of the latest decision, including leaders of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit that in the past has sued the Pentagon for ignoring policies that ban mandatory religious practices, said Tuesday the dismissal trounces the recruits' constitutional rights.

"They're basically deciding who are the religious winners and who are the religious losers and desecrating religious protection," said Mikey Weinstein, head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. "This is absolutely establishing religion in direct denial of the First Amendment."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-great-lakes-religious-civilians-met-20150512-story.html

[HassleCat]

1. Good Ole Navy

Hasn't changed much since I was in, back in the 1970s. Still trying their best to lower morale.

[cbayer]

2. I can't figure out what is motivating them to do this.

It's volunteers. It's very positively received. There is not indication of problems due to the program.

I don't get it. They seem to be creating a problem where none existed.

[rug]

3. Maybe it's "security".

[cbayer]

4. Yeah, that's the ticket.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. Well, would YOU want a bunch of Unitarian fanatics running around

trying to convert sailors to rationality? That sounds like a pretty serious threat to National Defense.

[cbayer]

6. Exactly. What is so threatening to them.

There has got to be more to this story.

[Jim__]

8. They're providing an opportunity for uniformed personnel.

But in the April 3 letter to volunteers informing them that their services would no longer be needed, Command Chaplain T.L. Williams said the move would add to the recruits' training by giving uniformed personnel an opportunity to model spiritual leadership for the aspiring servicemen.

"This shift in policy better prepares the recruits for how religious ministry is organized and conducted in the fleet and at shore locations around the world," the letter reads. A spokesman for Great Lakes did not return calls for comment Tuesday.

[cbayer]

9. So they are replacing them with uniformed personnel and not changing the kinds

of services they offer?

[Jim__]

11. It's more like bureaucratese for, if you want a motive ...

... I'll give you a motive.

[Basic LA]

7. Dietary laws in bootcamp.

I went through Great Lakes bootcamp back in 1963, & the only time a chaplain spoke, that I recall, was to tell us that all religious dietary restrictions were hereby rescinded. Chow down!

[cbayer]

10. Lol! Did he claim to have gotten this directive from god.