| WASHINGTON
- April 9 - U.S. military officials should order a chaplain in
Iraq to stop offering food and fresh water for bathing to soldiers
in exchange for being baptized and listening to his sermons, Americans
United for Separation of Church and State told the Army today.
Americans
United has asked the Army to rein in the activities of Chaplain
Josh Llano at Camp Bushmaster in Iraq. On April 4, the Miami
Herald reported that Llano bragged about enticing soldiers to
become baptized by offering them clean water in his baptismal
font.
“It’s
simple,” Llano said. “They want water. I have it,
as long as they agree to get baptized.”
The newspaper
reported that before going through the hour-long baptism, the
soldiers must agree to listen to Llano, who calls himself a
“Southern Baptist evangelist,” deliver a 90-minute
sermon. Llano admitted that some of the soldiers might just
want the opportunity to take a bath but added, “Regardless
of their motives, I get the chance to take them closer to the
Lord.”
Llano also
added that if portable showers are installed in the area, he
plans to bribe soldiers with scarce fruit and juice boxes.
“Chaplain
Llano’s actions are unconstitutional and unacceptable,”
said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans
United. “Our soldiers in Iraq have suffered enough hardships
without having religious coercion piled on. It’s time for
Llano to be shipped back home.”
In an April
9 letter to Army officials, AU Legal Director Ayesha Khan and
Litigation Counsel Ilana R. Fisher asked that Llano immediately
be told to cease and desist.
The AU legal
team noted that chaplains are supposed to provide a variety
of religious services to soldiers, not engage in proselytism.
“Especially
at this time, it is imperative to be sensitive to the physical,
emotional and spiritual needs of all our soldiers regardless
of faith,” observes the letter. “In fact, that is
one of the requirements of the job description of an army chaplain.
According to the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps, a chaplain is required
to be ‘[s]ensitive to religious pluralism and able to provide
for the free exercise of religion by all military personnel,
their family members and civilians who work for the Army.’
Chaplain Llano's actions do not exemplify this commitment to
religious pluralism and are therefore not in the best interest
of our troops.”
Americans
United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington,
D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about
the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious
freedom.
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