Chaplain's Choice: 'Religious Freedom or Your Career'
A Navy chaplain is facing possible career-ending discipline for expressing his Christian faith during private counseling sessions with sailors.
The Liberty Institute reports chaplain Wes Modder was careful to point out to the sailors that he holds the views of an Assembly of God minister.
But after a "handful" of complaints, the Navy is now fighting to bar him from future promotion, haul him before a military Board of Inquiry, and possibly fire him just months before he reaches his 20-year retirement.
"If the military can punish him for his views, what is the point of even pretending we have religious liberty in the military?" Mike Berry, Liberty Institute's director of Military Affairs, said.
CBN News Reporter/Anchor Mark Martin spoke with Berry about the Navy chaplains case. Click play to watch.
The Christian legal group said Modder has been called "the best of the best" and a "national asset" with "charismatic leadership and sound judgment" by his former Marine and Navy SEAL commanders.
Modder is based at South Carolina's U.S. Navy Joint Base Charleston Goose Creek. He previously served as the Force Chaplain for Naval Special Warfare Command.
Berry said the U.S. Navy's treatment of Modder in this case has been "outrageous."
"The Navy is attacking a military hero who put his life on the line to serve our country - first as a Marine, then as a chaplain," Berry said. "They've given Chaplain Modder a choice: your religious freedom or your career."
