A member of the U.S. Navy reads from a small Bible during an Easter service in Kandahar April 4, 2010. A U.S. Navy chaplain has been accused of violating the U.S. Constitution for teaching an optional 12-week seminar called "Lead Like Jesus" at the Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island. According to the religious liberty legal organization First Liberty Institute , Cmdr. Richard Smothers is being antagonized by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation — a group that argues for a strictly secularist interpretation of the Constitution — for promoting the seminar at the base. MRFF sent an email demanding that Capt. Ian Johnson, commander of the Naval base, investigate Smothers and anyone else who promoted the seminar through emails or fliers. The organization argues that service members were being "voluntold" to attend the Christian-oriented event. Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein, founder of MRFF, accused Smothers of having “weaponized Christianity” in an interview with the Navy Times published in January. He added that those behind the discussions should be “visibly and aggressively investigated and punished.” “Nothing could be more disruptive to good order and discipline and unit cohesion than a message like this,” he said. Commenting on the matter, First Liberty […]
