Two Baptist chaplains said they were
forced out of a Veterans Affairs (VA)
chaplain training program after they refused orders to stop quoting the Bible
and to stop praying in the name of Jesus. When the men objected to those demands they
were subjected to ridicule and harassment that led to one of the chaplains
leaving the program and the other being ejected, according to a federal lawsuit
filed last week.
The Conservative Baptist Association of America is suing the VA Secretary – Eric Shinseki – alleging
two of their chaplains were openly ridiculed by the leader of San Diego-based VA-DoD Clinical Pastoral Education Center
program. “Not only was the treatment
these men received inappropriate, it was also a violation of federal law and the
religious freedom guarantees of the 1st Amendment,” said John Wells, an
attorney representing the Colorado-based denomination. “No American choosing to serve in the armed
forces should be openly ridiculed for his Christian faith,” he said … calling
it one of the most blatant cases of religious discrimination he’s ever seen.
Lt. Commander Dan Klender, a Navy
chaplain and Maj. Steven Firtko, a retired Army chaplain, had enrolled in the VA’s Clinical Pastoral Education Center
program in San Diego last year. The
one-year training program is required for anyone wanting to work as a chaplain
in a VA hospital. VA chaplains
differ from other military chaplains in that they are limited to working in VA hospitals. The program, that has affiliates around the
nation, is open to chaplains of all religious faiths. However, applicants must have completed
master-level seminary work. There were
seven chaplains enrolled in the San Diego program led by Nancy Dietsch, a Department of Veterans Affairs employee
with a history of antagonistic behavior towards evangelicals, Wells said. “She’s been very, very critical of
Christians,” said Wells. “Instead of
teaching anything dealing with faith issues, she’s dealing with a holistic,
humanistic approach. It’s the idea that
the spirit comes from within.”
The VA released a statement to NBC San Diego. The VA
said the two men were “bullying other classmates and refusing to honor other
faith groups.” Wells said the chaplains
were subjected to anti- Christian bigotry. “And that would be putting it mildly,” he
said. “A lot of these so-called liberals
are very liberal with their own ideas, but when it comes to somebody else’s ideas,
they don’t want to hear it.
Among the allegations listed in the
lawsuit:
1.
Dietsch told the chaplains that it was the policy of the VA in general and her in particular that chaplains should not pray
in the name of Jesus.
2.
During a classroom discussion on faith, Firtko said “faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Dietsch told the chaplain he was not allowed
to quote from the Bible in her classroom.
3.
In October 2012, Dietsch told the class she believes God could be either man or
woman. When Firtko referred to “The
Lord’s Prayer,” she “angrily pounded her fist on the table and shouted, ‘Do not
quote Scripture in this class.’”
4.
In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook school shooting, Klender mentioned during a
group discussion on counseling that he would tell a parent that “there is evil
in the world.” Dietsch retorted, “You
don’t actually believe that do you?”
5.
In January 2013, she told the chaplains “there is no room in the program for
those who believe they are right and everybody else is wrong.”
6.
Later that month she told students that there are many ways to heaven and that
one religion cannot be right, while others are wrong. Firtko objected to that statement by quoting
Jesus who said “I am the way, the truth
and the life. No one comes to the Father
but through me.” Dietsch told him to
stop quote from the Bible and then stated, “If you believe your beliefs are right,
and everyone else’s is wrong, you do not belong in this program.”
The harassment had become so bad by
February, Klender withdrew from the program. A week later, Firtko received a letter
notifying him that he’d been dismissed from the program. In July, the pair filed a formal complaint
against Dietsch for religious discrimination and violating the Association of Pastoral Continuing Education
standards.
Attorney Wells said it appears the
government is trying to establish “a secular humanist-based religion free from
any influence of Christian dogma.” “The
most egregious part is the VA
supervisor told two chaplains that they were not allowed to pray in the name of
Jesus and they could not quote Scripture,” he said. Wells feared that unless changes are made,
Christian chaplains are going to be discouraged from serving in the military. “Christian chaplains are under a lot of
pressure right now and facing a lot of challenges,” he said.
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor,
Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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