Soldier Says Promotion Was Blocked Because of Earlier Free Exercise Claims

Last September, Spc. Jeremy Hall filed a lawsuit against the military claiming he was threatened by an Army major for holding a meeting of non-Christians and atheists in Iraq. (See prior posting.) The lawsuit was refiled yesterday in a Kansas federal court with an added claim that Hall's promotion was blocked in retaliation for filing the original lawsuit. According to the AP, the new lawsuit says that Hall's platoon sergeant told him that he would be "unable to put aside his personal convictions and pray with his troops" and would have trouble bonding with them if he were promoted. Hall's co-plaintiff is the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Hall's attorneys allege that Ft. Riley has permitted a culture that promotes Christianity and promotes anti-Islamic sentiment. A press release on the case by MMRF says: "It is beyond despicable ... that the United States Army is actively attempting to destroy the professional career of one of its decorated young fighting soldiers ... simply because he had the rare courage to stand up for his Constitutional rights ... against a superior officer who was forcefully attempting to intimidate him into accepting fundamentalist Christianity."