Texas Tall Tale?: VA Lays To Rest Religious Right Distortions About Cemetery Censorship
The Liberty Institute, a Texas-based Religious Right outfit, has filed a lawsuit. Local veterans have held rallies to express their outrage. Emotions are running high, and some are calling for Ocasio to be fired. That's the Religious Right's version of events. What's really going on? As the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC) noted recently, the VA has issued a 21-page legal reply to these charges. As the BJC put it, the reply "emphasizes VA policy that all burial ceremonies are to respect the family's wishes with respect to the inclusion or exclusion of religious text. Volunteers are trained not to insert their own religious beliefs in lieu of the family's request." Here are some highlights from the legal filing:
Torpy, a former Army captain, also notes that the members of the National Memorial Ladies are volunteers. As such, they have no right to officiate at services or use them to promote their religious beliefs. As Torpy points out, some of the families who received religious sympathy cards or heard religious language might not have wanted that. What about the claims that Ocasio closed the chapel? The VA legal document responds to that as well. The answer turns out to be just a bit mundane: The chapel was open until September 2010, at which point "the Cemetery began a major construction project on the premises that involved the renovation of several buildings and the construction of new buildings. Due to the construction project, the chapel was closed because of fumes and noise." Even after it was closed for construction, "arrangements were made to allow the chapel to reopen on July 5, 2011, and to remain open for use as a non-denominational place of prayer and contemplation, and as a location in which to hold committal services." Finally, the chapel was not stripped of Christian symbols. Christian and Jewish symbols are kept in storage there and are brought out when appropriate. They are not permanently displayed. This is an inter-faith chapel, after all. The military includes men and women of many different faiths, as well as some people who have no specific beliefs. We honor the service of fallen service personnel by respecting the wishes of their loved ones. We do not respect fallen warriors by assuming that a grieving family wants religious language or religiously themed condolences when they may not. There's a lesson we can learn from this: Don't believe everything you read - especially if the source is a Religious Right group.
Texas Tall Tale?: VA Lays To Rest Religious Right Distortions About Cemetery Censorship | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)
Texas Tall Tale?: VA Lays To Rest Religious Right Distortions About Cemetery Censorship | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)
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