ACLU Military Cross Hoax

Posted by Thomas Alan Gray Sep 2, 2009

Here's an abridged version of an email going around.

PS - I wrote an update on this email

This is awful[.] I think they should [let] the troops and there [sic] families rest in peace[.]

Did you know that the ACLU has filed a suit to have all military cross-shaped headstones removed and another suit to end prayer from the military completely. They're making great progress. The Navy Chaplains can no longer mention Jesus' name in prayer thanks to the retched [sic] ACLU and our new [Obama] administration.

Here’s an analysis from the Urban Legends page at about.com, with sources that readers can actually check, if they care to.

Analysis: This message repeats falsehoods contained or implied in previous forwarded emails, plus adds a new one to the mix. Let's take them one by one:

Has the ACLU filed a lawsuit to remove all crosses from military gravesites?

No. As I noted in my coverage of a 2003-vintage rumor alleging the same thing, the ACLU's official position is actually the opposite: The ACLU has long argued that veterans and their families should be free to choose religious symbols on military headstones — whether Crosses, Stars of David, Pentacles, or other symbols — and that the government should not be permitted to restrict such religious expression in federal cemeteries. Source: ACLU website

Has the ACLU filed a lawsuit to 'end prayer from the military completely'?

No, as affirmed in this quote from Deborah A. Jeon, Legal Director for the ACLU of Maryland: Members of the military have a right to pray or not pray as they personally see fit, and that right is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. It is one of the fundamental rights they put their lives on the line to defend in service to their country. Source: ACLU press release, June 25, 2008

Is it true that Navy chaplains can no longer mention Jesus' name in prayer due to actions of the ACLU and/or the Obama administration?

No. No such prohibition has been proposed or enacted. Confusion on this issue may be linked to a stand the ACLU has taken against compulsory prayer in the military, or to a 2005 incident in which Navy chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt claimed he was being censored by his superiors "because I pray in Jesus' name." Klingenschmitt ran afoul of Navy rules requiring that prayers delivered in settings other than religious ceremonies (namely secular public events) be non-denomenational.

Sources: ACLU press release, June 25, 2008 | Stars and Stripes, Dec. 22, 2005

The email goes on with a prayer request:

Prayer chain for our Military... Don't break it! Please send this on after a short prayer. Prayer for our soldiers Don't break it! Prayer: 'Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands Protect them as they protect us Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen.'

Now if you do want to pray for soldiers – yours, ours, and theirs – by all means do. But God bless you for not passing the falsehoods on. “And the truth shall set you free!”