Extending Practice of Faith in the Armed Forces

The job of military chaplain has been around since the Revolutionary War & there may be a change on the way if Congressman Walter Jones has his way.

By: Arthur Mondale | WNCT-On Your Side
Published: January 09, 2009

The job of military chaplain has been around since the Revolutionary War and there may be a change on the way if Congressman Walter B. Jones says so.
Should the military have the same rights under the First Amendment of the constitution as you and me?
Congressman Walter B. Jones says, yes.
He's pushing legislation that would give military chaplain's the right to close a prayer the way they see fit, some agree with this new level of religious expression...some don't.
Good enough to serve, but not allowed to pray as they want.
It's what Congressman Jones calls suppression of religious freedom in the armed forces.
He first introduced a similar bill, HR-6514 in 2008.
It allows chaplains of all branches to close their prayers they way they wish at any event outside a religious service. For example, before a meal; no longer censoring a chaplain's beliefs.
In a statement, Congressman Jones says, "By focusing on a chaplain's right to close their prayers according to the dictates of their conscience and faith tradition, this legislation aims to protect the most basic aspect of military chaplains' religious expression."
We called a number of base chaplains who refused to speak with us on camera.
Congressman Jones office submitted this statement in reference to our request: DOD policy encourages service members to carry out the obligations of citizenship. However, DOD personnel may not engage in activities that associate DOD with any partisan political campaign or election, candidate, cause, or issue.
But some chaplains told us privately it's not a question of a First Amendment right.
They say they deal with people from different religious backgrounds all the time and its about one's level of respect for others.
Surprisingly, every chaplain we spoke with tells us even if HR-268 goes through; it probably won't end the debate on how chaplains in the US Armed Forces conduct their jobs.