Army Chaplain Andrew Calvert is facing career-ending punishment by the Army for sharing his faith on his personal Facebook page. Calvert is stationed at Ft. Hood in Texas, and has 16-years of service in the military.
Now he is facing an end to a successful career because someone was “offended” because he opposed changes to Defense Department rules on transgender troops in a Jan. 25 post on the Facebook page for the Army Times newspaper. President Trump’s administration banned transgender persons serving in the military.
“After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow……Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming…..victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you,” tweeted Trump in 2017.
The Department of Defense policy states that “a Service member’s expression of sincerely held beliefs may not be used as the basis of any adverse personnel action, discrimination, or denial of promotion, schooling, training, or assignment.”
Mike Berry, General Counsel for First Liberty made it clear that it’s both morally—and legally—wrong to punish a chaplain for expressing views consistent with their faith. They are looking to restore Calvert’s First Amendment rights.
“…Issuing a [reprimand] against a chaplain in retaliation for his expression of his sincerely held religious beliefs is unconstitutional, and violates DoD and U.S. Army regulations,” wrote Berry.
Calvert, who was awarded the Bronze Star and three Meritorious Service Medals, is suspended by the Army upon further investigation.
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—By CNJ Staff