A lawsuit is being filed by various military groups that have been banned from saying the words ‘God’ and ‘Jesus’ at veteran burials.
Officials at Houston National Cemetery have required all words to be submitted and approved before ceremonies, have censored prayers, and have forbidden volunteers from using the phrase “God bless you” in condolence cards. They have also rebranded the chapel a ‘meeting room’.
Three veteran groups - Veterans of Foreign Wars, The American Legion and National Memorial Ladies - are taking the U.S Department of Veteran Affairs as well as the director of the Houston National Cemetery, Arleen Ocasio, to court.
“The hostile and discriminatory actions by the Veterans Affairs officials in Houston are outrageous, unconstitutional and must stop ... Government officials who engage in religious discrimination against citizens are breaking the law,” said lawyer Jeff Mateer of the Liberty Institute, speaking on behalf of these groups.
Last week’s Independence Day saw more than 1,000 demonstrators gather at the cemetery to protest in support of these recent allegations.
Attendee Dave Welch, executive director of the Houston Area Pastor Council, said “The director of thiscemetery, since she got here about a year ago, has engaged in systematic oppression of religious speech on this ground. They’re not going to fight this battle by themselves. We’re here to tell them that you are not, on our watch, going to tell them that they can’t invoke the names of God or Jesus Christ.”
Andrea Minichiello Williams, CEO of the Christian Legal Centre, said:
“The good news of Jesus Christ is the best solace in the world, particularly to those who are grieving friends and colleagues.
“To deny prayers to God and Christian words of comfort at a burial is to deny many people the opportunity to mourn and celebrate the lives of their loved ones in any meaningful way.
“What is happening in Houston is indicative of the encroaching restriction on religious expression that Christians are facing in many parts of the West.”
Sources