In an interesting turn of events, the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF) undermined Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (AU) in its recent effort to complain about Fort Leonard Wood’s “Free Day Away” (discussed here).
In July, the AU requested an IG investigation…something the MAAF did two years ago. The MAAF also complained again last January, and received a reply (which noted that the IG had already investigated their complaint) at nearly the same time the AU made their IG request. From the DOD reply:
The [IG] found that the program does not violate Army policy in that participation is voluntary…The IG determined that…soldiers have opportunities to participate in non-religious morale, welfare, and recreation programs. More specifically, during the Free Day Away program,…soldiers can remain in the barracks or go to an on-post facility, such as a Post Exchange Annex.
The Free Day Away event has also featured prominently in the MRFF lawsuit against the Department of Defense.
As noted at the Religion Clause, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State has asked the Inspector General (an increasingly popular office, these days) to investigate
…an Army base’s practice of coercing soldiers to attend church services…
Tabernacle Baptist Church’s “Free Day Away” allows trainees from nearby Fort Leonard Wood to get a break from the base as well as attend an evangelical church service.
Quoted in a local paper, the base emphasized that Read more…
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State posted a scathing article on former Navy Chaplain Klingenschmitt. They included quotes from a letter written by his former commander asserting Klingenschmitt’s “dishonesty.” The AU hailed the former chaplain as a vaunted martyr of the religious right. More interesting, in the public comments on the article, both Klingenschmitt and his former commander have faced off with scathing rebuttals.
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State picked up on the story of the Army Chaplain who wanted to switch from Christianity to Wicca, claiming that the Army’s treatment of him was “so obviously a case of religious discrimination.” As noted in the public comments on the article, there are questions as to why the AU hasn’t made the same appeal about Chaplain Klingenschmitt, who the Navy attempted to discharge when he switched endorsers. The basic circumstances are nearly identical; in fact, Klingenschmitt’s is arguably harder to justify.
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State posted an article deriding the “First Freedom Project” as a means to undermine church/state separation and placate “the religious right.” The AU was particularly put off by the DOJ’s support of the Salvation Army’s right to hire people that observed its beliefs even if it contracted work with the government, saying “…thanks to the Justice Department, the Salvation Army” could now discriminate. While the DOJ did file a brief in support of the Salvation Army, the AU fails to note that it was actually the judicial branch of the government that made the ruling and is therefore the one “to thank.”
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