US Navy Denies Atheist Chaplain Application
The U.S. Navy has denied an application submitted by a secular humanist to serve in the Chaplain Corps.
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who was joined by 22 Senators last week in sending a letter to Navy Secretary Richard Spencer and Adm. John Richardson opposing the application, said, “The Navy’s leadership has done the right thing.”
Wicker continued, “The appointment of an atheist to an undeniably religious position is fundamentally incompatible with atheism’s secularism. This decision preserves the distinct religious role that our chaplains carry out.”
Others who see a place for nonreligious chaplains in the military argue the role is to act more as counselor than to serve specific religious needs.