Army Chaplain Capt. Joseph Lawhorn was rebuked for citing his Christian faith during suicide prevention training, the Washington Times reports.
Now 20 nonprofit organizations dedicated to religious freedom are lining up in support Lawhorn, sending a letter to Army Secretary John McHugh "urging him to overturn action" against Lawhorn.
Lawhorn’s commander, Col. David Fivecoat, took action against Lawhorn after a soldier complained to the website MilitaryAtheists.org.
Capt. Lawhorn had spoken and distributed one page of religious material to soldiers Nov. 20 on how his faith helped him overcome bouts of depression. Suicide in the ranks has been a major Army problem amid deployments to long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Michael Berry, a reserve Marine Corps judge advocate who is representing Capt. Lawhorn, called Col. Fivecoat’s letter "knee-jerk."
"He basically censured a chaplain for doing his job, for doing what chaplains are trained to do and what Army regulations in fact encourage chaplains to do," said Mr. Berry, a lawyer at the Liberty Institute in Dallas. "Col. Fivecoat did not do his homework."