By Jeff Brumley / The Associated Baptist Press
This is an abbreviated version of the story. For the full article, click here.
A June decision to remove Bibles from the U.S. Navy’s base lodging system was cheered by atheists. Now it may be evangelicals’ turn to celebrate after the decision was placed on hold last week pending further review.
But others say the dispute is just another example that the military, like other branches of government, faces greater challenges in an increasingly pluralistic society to accommodate religious belief without endorsing it …
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The latest layer came in March when the Navy Exchange, which oversees the Navy’s hotel network, received a complaint from the Freedom from Religion Foundation, the military newspaper Stars & Stripes reported.
The atheist group said it has more than 20,000 members, including hundreds of veterans and activity-duty personnel.
Placing Bibles in the base hotel rooms — with no other religious literature provided — shows an unconstitutional bias toward Christianity, it said in a letter to the Navy.
So the Exchange ordered that Bibles be removed from rooms but also be available upon request to the civilians and retirees who usually frequent base hotels.
“By removing Bibles from Navy-run lodges, the Navy has taken a step to ensure that it is not sending the impermissible message that Christians are favored over guests with other religious beliefs or over those guests with no religion,” foundation staff attorney Sam Grover said on the organization’s website.
But religious conservatives got activated after learning of the decision. The American Family Association and the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty pressured the Navy to reverse course, Religion News Service reported.
And it worked …
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“Making religious materials available to servicemen and women, without promoting it, should be the goal and appears to be the focus of the discussion they are having — albeit under pressure,” said Holly Hollman, general counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty in Washington.
Click here to read the entire article on the Associated Baptist Press website.
