Several military chaplain videos offering prayer during the coronavirus pandemic have been removed from Facebook after a group complained they amounted to “illicit proselytizing” of Christianity.
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRRF) watchdog group is celebrating.
Four recent videos involving chaplains Cpt. Amy Smith and Maj. Scott Ingram posted on the Facebook page of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division Sustainment Brigade at Fort Drum, N.Y., were taken down after MRFF founder and president Mikey Weinstein sent a demand letter claiming they violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
“These videos belong only on a chapel page, not on a base’s or unit’s main page,” MRFF senior research director Chris Rodda wrote in an op-ed for the Daily Kos, adding the group “has been seeing an uptick in a particular type of complaint — overt proselyting videos on official military Facebook pages.”
The alleged violations include Smith discussing the Fort Drum Spiritual Fitness Trail in a video that was posted April 17, saying, “You are invited to pray, to pray for the family, to pray for the sick, and to pray for our leaders.” In another video, Smith encouraged people to visit the Fort Drum Labyrinth as a great place to hear God’s voice.
Addressing the coronavirus pandemic on April 2, Ingram said, “God encourages us not to be dismayed by what we see around us, things we cannot control. We can, however, with the best intel in this moment, place our trust in him, walk forward in his strength, and treat others with kindness.” – READ MORE
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