[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 15, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H4325-H4326]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ARMY SANCTIONING WICCA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, in recent weeks we have 
learned that the United States military recognizes witchcraft as a 
religion. Witchcraft, or wicca, as it is often called, professes no 
belief in the Christian concept of God.
  While I find this fact disturbing in itself, it was on my drive back 
to Washington yesterday that my attention was called to something that 
I

[[Page H4326]]

find much more upsetting. The Washington Post ran an article on June 8 
on the military's religious tolerance. It points out that the Army 
chaplains' handbook lists religious choices open to soldiers that 
include wicca, black Judaism and the Church of Satan. While I might not 
agree that such belief systems ought to be recognized or ought to be 
encouraged by the United States military, I accept the diversity of 
thought and opinion. What I cannot understand is what the article 
reports, that Army Chaplain John Walton, who served at Fort Hood for 
5\1/2\ years was admonished for mentioning Jesus in his sermons.
  According to the article, in the interests of maintaining religious 
tolerance on base, Walton was allegedly sent to sensitivity training 
where he was asked to refrain from mentioning the name of Christ so 
that he would not offend others; this, at an Army base that officially 
sanctioned the practice of witchcraft years ago.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope what I read is not true. If it is, I am incensed. 
America is a Nation of many faiths, but to ask that a Christian 
chaplain deny Christ by asking him or her to drop His name from their 
sermons is like asking them to reject the essential nature of their 
beliefs. Doing so would stray from the religious principles this great 
Nation was founded upon.
  Mr. Speaker, it was Thomas Jefferson who called the Bible the 
cornerstone of liberty and our country's first President, George 
Washington, said, and I quote: ``It is impossible rightly to govern the 
world without God and the Bible.''
  Those same ideals apply to the men and women who defend and protect 
this country. Our Nation's soldiers risk their lives for my colleagues 
and for me and for this country. Those who choose to practice 
Christianity deserve the right to hear Jesus' name spoken by their 
chaplains.
  Mr. Speaker, I am a man of strong religious convictions. My faith is 
an extremely important part of my life, and I respect others' right to 
practice their beliefs. But if the United States military begins 
removing fundamental tenets of the Christian faith this great Nation 
was founded upon, it is clear that we have gone too far in our effort 
not to upset.
  Mr. Speaker, the instructions given to our military chaplains to 
offend no one can be easily viewed as religious bigotry to those with 
deeply-rooted beliefs.
  Perhaps this anti-religious attitude is simply reflective of the 
times. Just weeks ago, the Washington Post featured a front-page 
article about a Calvert County, Maryland high school graduation 
ceremony in which students ignored a school ban on prayer and recited 
the Lord's prayer.
  The reporter called the students a defiant group, as if to imply that 
the peaceful inclusion of God in the ceremony caused harm, but it 
received front page coverage simply because one young graduating 
student took offense at the prayer and left the building.
  Mr. Speaker, have we become so sensitive to being insensitive that we 
can no longer say what we think or question other ideas? It is our 
diversity of opinion and diversity of culture that makes this country 
great. But if we continue down a path of religious intolerance from 
banning our Nation's students from praying in school, or asking our 
United States Christian ministers from uttering the name Jesus, we as a 
Nation accomplish nothing.
  For that reason I have called upon Defense Secretary William Cohen to 
provide me with an explanation of how and why the military goes about 
training its chaplains to suppress such fundamental religious beliefs.
  In the words of William McKinley, and I quote, ``The great essential 
to our happiness and prosperity is that we adhere to the principles 
upon which this government was established and insist upon the faithful 
observance.''
  Mr. Speaker, this Nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. 
When we start forcibly suppressing those beliefs and principles, we 
threaten the very foundation and strength of this country, and if this 
trend continues, America is in deep trouble.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  (Ms. NORTON addressed the House. Her remarks will appear hereafter in 
the Extensions of Remarks.)

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