World Net Daily----The Veterans Administration in recent months has tried to prohibit
Bibles at its military hospitals and ban the use of the word “God” at
military funerals, and now there are members in Congress who say enough
is enough.
So HR 2720 has been introduced, stating emphatically that “no
official of the federal government, including the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs, may interfere with the content and creed of the funeral,
memorial service, or ceremony of a deceased individual, as expressed by
the last will and testament of the individual or as determined by the
family or agent of the individual, as provided under state law.:
The resolution also requires federal officials to provide access to
health care facilities, cemeteries and other facilities if access is
requested by either veterans or their families.
The proposal came about because of a series of events that took place
last year where veterans and their families were prohibited from
exercising their First Amendment right to freedom of religion.
It was then that officials at Walter Reed Medical Center issued a
regulation telling families they would not be permitted to bring in
Bibles to read to their loved ones. The memo stated that “no religious
items (i.e. Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to
be given away or used during a visit.”
When news of the ban was made public, the hospital quickly backpedaled and rescinded the policy.
Just this week, on the anniversary of D-Day, Kelly Shackelford,
president and chief executive officer of Liberty Institute, testified
before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Disability
Assistance and Memorial Affairs about the importance of the bill.
It was May of last year that Liberty Institute filed a lawsuit
against federal officials after Arleen Ocasio, of the Houston National
Cemetery, attempted to edit and censor a prayer that was to be offered
by Pastor Scott Rainey at a Memorial Day service. Ocasio told Rainey
that his prayer needed to be submitted to her for approval and its
contents needed to be “non-denominational.”
While Liberty Institute was presenting its argument to the court,
officials learned of several other instances where religious freedom was
being suppressed.
Ocasio had instituted a policy titled, “Houston National Cemetery
Honor Guard Guidelines.” The guidelines required volunteer honor guards
to omit any and all religious elements from their rituals, unless the
family specifically requested otherwise.
“Instead, they could only do what she described as the ‘four core
elements,’ the folding of the flag, the presentation of the flag, the
rifle salute, and the playing of taps,” Shackelford said. “Ocasio stated
that the VFW District 4 Honor Guard members could not provide texts of
prayer to the family for consideration.
She also stated that if family
members wanted a certain prayer read, they would have to submit the
prayer to the cemetery in writing and cemetery officials would then give
the prayer to the VFW District 4 Honor Guard to read.”
A representative from the cemetery went even further and told the VFW
District 4 Honor Guard that they would not be permitted to conduct the
burial ritual because the word “God” was included.
“The cemetery representative did state that they could say the Lord’s
Prayer and the 23rd Psalm since the word ‘God’ is not included in those
texts. When questioned regarding the source of the authority for these
pronouncements, the cemetery representative responded ‘by my
supervisor’s orders.’”
While it could seem as if the guidelines were reasonable since it
claims the family can request the full burial ritual, Shackelford says
the reality is that families were denied that right.
“At least on three occasions, cemetery officials interfered with
families of deceased veterans in their making arrangements for burial
service,” he said.
James Haycraft, Geri Lakey and Lisa Ward, representing families of
deceased veterans, each claimed the cemetery interfered with and
precluded their wishes in honoring their loved ones.
“Mr. Haycraft’s brother did not receive the burial service he
desired, being prohibited from having the VFW honor guard perform the
entire VFW burial ritual. In the case of Ms. Lakey, cemetery officials
attempted to stop her husband from receiving the entire VFW burial
ritual. But for the actions of her husband’s VFW post commander (a
former judge), his final wishes would have been thwarted,” he testified.
“Ms. Ward had to have her husband’s burial service at a private funeral
home rather than the Houston National Cemetery so that the honor guard
could perform the entire VFW burial ritual, as she desired.
Nevertheless, because of the cemetery’s restrictions, her desire to have
the service at the cemetery was denied.”
In December, the VA settled the lawsuit by agreeing to stop
interfering with the religious content of military funerals and to
censoring the speech of clergy at any type of ceremony.
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