An Army chaplain was punished for discussing matters
of faith and quoting from the Bible during a suicide
prevention training session with the 5th Ranger
Training Battalion -- leading to outrage from religious
liberty groups and a Georgia congressman.
Chaplain Joseph Lawhorn was issued a Letter of
Concern that accused him of advocating for
Christianity and “using Christian scripture and
solutions” during a Nov. 20th training session held at
the University of North Georgia.
“You provided a two-sided handout that listed Army
resources on one side and a biblical approach to
handling depression on the other side,” Col. David
Fivecoat, the commander of the Airborne and Ranger
Training Brigade at Ft. Benning, Georgia, wrote in the
letter to the chaplain. “This made it impossible for
those in attendance to receive the resource information
without also receiving the biblical information.”
The Christian chaplain was warned to
be “careful to avoid any perception you
are advocating one system of beliefs
over another.”
The Christian chaplain was warned to be “careful to
avoid any perception you are advocating one system
of beliefs over another.”
However, attorneys for the chaplain, along with
religious advocacy groups, say his comments are
covered by the “right of conscience clause” that was
passed in last year’s National Defense Authorization
Act, section 533.
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Chaplain Lawhorn was ordered to appear in the
colonel’s office on Thanksgiving Day where he was
personally handed the Letter of Concern.
Based on Col. Fivecoat’s version of events -- you
would’ve thought Chaplain Lawhorn had turned the
suicide prevention workshop into a Billy Graham
Crusade. However, that’s not what happened.
During the course of conducting the training session,
Ron Crews, the endorsing agent for military chaplains
for Grace Churches International, explained, the
chaplain discussed his own struggles with depression
and the methods and techniques he personally used to
combat depression. He said the chaplain did provide a
handout with religious resources — but he also
provided a handout with non-religious resources.
“The chaplain did nothing wrong,” said Crews. “At no
time did he say his was the only or even the preferred
way of dealing with depression. And at no time did he
deny the validity of any other method.”
Lawhorn is one of the few Army chaplains to wear the
Ranger Tab and Crews said it was through that
identification that he shared his story about
depression.
“His story involves his faith journey,” Crews said. “He
was simply being a great Army chaplain - in ministering
to his troops and providing first hand how he has dealt
with depression in the past. That’s what chaplains do.
They bare their souls for their soldiers in order to help
them with crises they may be going through.”
However, someone in the training session complained
to the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers.
That complaint led to a story on the Huffington Post .
Michael Berry, an attorney with Liberty Institute, a law
firm that handles religious liberty cases, is representing
the chaplain. He said the person who filed the
complained “exploited” the chaplain’s “vulnerability.”
“It took a great amount of courage for Chaplain
Lawhorn to discuss his own personal battle with
depression,” Berry said. “At no time did he consider
himself to be in a ‘preacher’ role.”
Berry called on the Army to rescind the Letter of
Concern — calling it a violation of the chaplain’s
constitutional rights.
“Not only is it lawful for a chaplain to talk about
matters of faith and spirituality and religion in a suicide
prevention training class - but the Army policy
encourages discussion of matters of faith and spiritual
wellness,” Berry told me. “The fact that one person in
the class was offended changes nothing.”
Congressman Doug Collins, a Republican lawmaker
from Georgia, whose district includes the area where
the training session took place, fired off a letter to Col.
Fivecoat expressing his concerns in the matter.
“I find it counterintuitive to have someone lead a
suicide prevention course but prohibit them from
providing their personal testimony,” Collins wrote.
He cited the Army’s Equal Opportunity policy and how it
was set up to protect the personal beliefs of military
personnel.
“I fear Chaplain Lawhorn’s freedom of expression was
improperly singled out,” he wrote.
Liberty Institute tells me the Army will allow me to
speak with the chaplain — but not right now. And Col.
Fivecoat sent me an email telling me that he would not
be able to comment at this point.
If I’m reading between the lines — that Letter of
Concern comes pretty close to accusing the chaplain of
proselytizing. Crews agrees with my assessment.
“The bottom line is — that is exactly what they are
trying to accuse him of — when nothing could be
further from the truth,” Crews told me. “The military
leadership needs to commend Chaplain Lawhorn, not
condemn him.”
Berry said Americans should be shocked and outraged
over Chaplain Lawhorn’s punishment.
"His job is to save lives — and he’s being punished for
trying to do his job,” Berry said. “He’s doing everything
he can to save them - and yet now they’re trying to say
- the way you’re doing it offends me."
I find it both repulsive and heartbreaking to know that
we have a military that frowns upon a chaplain using a
Bible to save a soldier’s life.
Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on
hundreds of radio stations. Sign up for his American Dispatch
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Twitter . His latest book is "God bless America."
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