Navy Chaplain Experiences Religious Freedom — after Retirement

The military now leads the way in a lot of immoral behavior, where five years ago it led the way in honor, courage, and commitment. We need a moral fighting force.

US Navy Chaplain (LtCmdr) Wes Modder — almost drummed out of the service in 2015 after homosexuals complained about his religious beliefs — recently retired, and he expressed frustration that his career was essentially ended by the unjust homosexual complaint: 

“After that, I was given a really unproductive assignment in San Diego,” he said. “I eventually realized that there was nothing for me to do there, and no chance of any further promotion. There was no more future for me in the Navy after all that.”

Being put through the administrative ringer and stuck with no hope for advancement left him “feeling ashamed for the first time to wear the uniform.”

Given how the Navy reacted despite the fact he “won” the attempt to kick him out (his highest boss, Navy Chief of Chaplains (RAdm) Margaret Kibben, wondered aloud if he could be trusted anymore) it doesn’t seem unlikely the Navy intentionally sidelined him.

The article at the Conservative Review makes a point of saying Modder left “Obama’s Navy” and was attacked uner the “Obama-era Pentagon” and the “Obama-era culture and policies.” The Obama references are ultimately gratuitous and not entirely helpful. Yes, President Obama is the Commander-in-Chief — but the CinC hardly weighs in on individual policy matters.

That said, there is some truth to the fact the CinC sets the overall tone both individually and by whom he chooses to install as his DoD staff. President Obama’s views on religious freedom and sexual liberty are widely known.  His Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, has made a legacy of social change within the military regarding sexuality and gender.  His outgoing Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, has been widely noted for focusing on social change within the Navy (including naming Navy ships after homosexuals).

While politically expedient, it is an exaggeration to assert that President Obama has personally or singlehandedly determined the status of religious liberty or sexuality in the US military — or that President Trump will have equal effect in the opposite direction.

That said, there is no question the Commander-in-Chief and the personnel he emplaces over the Department of Defense affect the tone, tenor, and culture of the military — as well as the policies they write and enforce.

It is true, then, that Chaplain Modder was almost thrown out of the US Navy led by Secretary Mabus and the CinC, President Obama — because he expressed his religious beliefs. Would the same thing have happen under President Trump?

That remains to be seen.

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3 comments

  • Anonymous Patriot

    Wes Modder’s ordeal was a sham. A pure and simple sham.

  • AP, by “sham” do you mean made up and fabricated?

    • Anonymous Patriots

      No, I mean that it was absolutely shameful that the Navy forced him to go through the whole ordeal because one little paper-thin skinned homosexual didn’t like his natural views on marriage. It is shameful that RAdm Kibben implicitly stated that he couldn’t be trusted be trusted because he had the spiritually-correct view of marriage instead of the politically-correct view (albeit, the actual word for that is “incorrect view”) of marraige. It is shameful that the Navy deliberately ruined his career because he dared to speak his sincerely held beliefs.

      In short, it is a big f—ing sham that the Navy scapegoated him so that the Gaystapo would believe that the DoD is doing something to accommodate the LGBT minority.