Urge Your Senators to Oppose the Military Chaplains Modernization Act!
Every year, Congress passes the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual bill that funds and sets policy for the U.S. military. This year, the version of the NDAA that the House passed in July included an amendment that threatens to upend one of the military's oldest institutions: the chaplaincy. Now, it’s in the Senate’s hands.
For more than two hundred years, military chaplains have served all service members and their families, regardless of their own faith or lack thereof. Unlike clergy who minister only to their own religious community, chaplains are called to meet every service member where they are, providing spiritual and emotional support according to each person's own conscience–not the chaplain's. That pluralistic mission is exactly what makes the chaplaincy unique.
The Military Chaplains Modernization Act would gut that mission. If passed, it would let chaplains:
Refuse to counsel or care for service members whose beliefs differ from their own
Proselytize service members instead of supporting them
Ignore the actual needs of the people in their care, and pass bad guidance up the chain to commanding officers
Undermine the trust, resilience, and unit cohesion the military depends on to function
The American Humanist Association is proud to co-lead opposition to this proposal, joined by 40 national religious, civil rights, and civil liberties organizations representing a wide range of faith traditions. We now need you to join us in this fight, too.
Service members, like all Americans, have a constitutional right to religious freedom. Congress has the responsibility to protect that right, not weaken it. Take just one minute now to tell your senators to do everything they can to oppose the Military Chaplains Modernization Act and protect the religious freedom of every service member.
