Sparring between the United States Navy and some of its evangelical Christian chaplains over Navy policies on sectarian prayer continues. Baptist Press reported yesterday that Marine chaplain Lt. Cmdr. Gary Stewart claims the Navy is retaliating against him because of his efforts to challenge a 2006 Navy policy mandating that chaplains use non-sectarian prayers at service-wide events. In a lawsuit filed last year by 41 current and former chaplains, Stewart claims he was reprimanded for praying in Jesus’ name and relieved of his duties at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station. Now Stewart has filed a complaint with the Department of Defense’s inspector general claiming new retaliation.
Stewart says he was transferred on short notice to a Tennessee naval base after, at a meeting in South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham’s office, he engaged in an exchange with former Chief of Chaplains (and current U.S. Senate Chaplain) Barry Black over what Black knew about actions taken by the Navy against evangelical chaplains. The meeting concerned an attempt to get Congress to reverse Navy policy. (See prior posting.)
