Navy attempts to dismiss Christian chaplain for faith-based counseling

In an apparently unprecedented move, the Navy is initiating action to dismiss a decorated and highly respected chaplain based on alleged statements he made to sailors during private counseling sessions.

In a letter dated Feb. 17, Captain J.R. Fahs, commanding officer of the Navy Nuclear Power Training Command (NNPTC) in Goose Creek, S.C., requested Lt. Cmdr. Wesley Modder be “detached for cause” from his command “by reason of substandard performance involving significant events resulting from complete disregard of duty.” The letter also recommends Modder “show cause for retention in naval service; and be removed from any promotion list.”

The letter accused Modder—a Navy chaplain endorsed by the Assemblies of God—of “intolerance” and stated he was “unable to function in the diverse and pluralistic environment of NNPTC.”

Modder’s offense? Counseling sailors on issues of sexuality, marriage, and homosexuality based on his sincerely held belief in the clear teaching of Scripture on those issues.

“There is absolutely an atmosphere of hostility toward religion in our military now,” said Michael Berry, senior counsel with Liberty Institute, a legal firm specializing in religious liberty cases that is representing Modder. “Anytime a person of faith wants to speak out, engage in religious expression, there’s a target on them. There’s a target on their back.”

Berry told me Christians in the military today, particularly chaplains, are being watched closely for statements or actions that could be perceived as offensive and then being censored or punished. What makes Modder’s case so egregious, Berry said, is that the military is punishing him for statements made while doing his duty: pastoral counseling.

“This is not a scenario where somebody’s walking around offering unsolicited opinions about matters of faith or marriage or family or whatever,” Berry said. “This is a chaplain doing his duty in a pastoral setting. And now the Navy has taken the step of saying, we can even punish you for what you say in that context. We can now reach into the confessional, so to speak.”

The allegations against Modder stem from a December Equal Opportunity complaint allegedly initiated by a junior naval officer acting as Modder’s assistant. Modder told Todd Starnes of Fox News the young officer constantly peppered him with questions pertaining to homosexuality.

“His five-page letter of complaint was unconscionable,” Modder said. “He said I had a behavioral pattern of being anti-discriminatory [sic] of same-sex orientation.”

The letter from Fahs listed several complaints against Modder. Among them:

In an official response letter to the detachment for cause memo, Berry noted the findings of the command investigation completed on Jan. 27 “fail to accurately capture and convey the context and private, personal nature of Chaplain Modder’s interactions with sailors.”

“If it really does boil down to a ‘he said/she said,’ why is the Navy so quick to disregard or discount the reputation, the honor, the integrity of a chaplain who’s served faithfully for the last 15 years?” Berry asked.

Modder served as chaplain to the Navy SEALs and deployed with SEAL Team 6 to Afghanistan. His most recent officer fitness report evaluation, written in October by his current commander and the author of the detachment for cause memo, gave Modder the highest rating possible. Fahs called him “the best of the best.”

The response letter, filed on March 9, also includes a formal request for religious accommodation in accordance with federal law, as well as Navy and Department of Defense regulations protecting the religious expression of service members, particularly chaplains.

“Basically, another way of saying that is that we’ve asked permission for a Christian chaplain to be able to continue to do his duties in accordance with his Christian beliefs,” Berry said.

The relevant laws and regulations stipulate the Navy must demonstrate a compelling interest that Modder’s actions “could have an adverse impact on military readiness, unit cohesion, and good order and discipline.”

According to the Liberty Institute’s request, “even if the complaining sailors alleged that chaplain Modder’s religious expression offended them, it would not be a compelling interest. Perceived offense is irrelevant. Instead, the critical inquiry is whether there is religious coercion.”

By regulation, the Navy must respond today. In a March 11 statement, Navy officials said “the detachment for cause action will be reviewed by Navy Personnel Command,” and that “the Navy values, and protects in policy, the rights of its service members, including chaplains, to practice according to the tenets of their faith and respects the rights of each individual to determine their own religious convictions.”

Berry hopes “cooler heads will prevail” and the Navy will realize the dangerous precedent set by taking action that affects not just Modder but all chaplains.

“Think about a chaplain who reads or hears about this incident with chaplain Modder and maybe he’s scheduled to give a sermon the following Sunday in the chapel,” Berry said. “He’s probably going to think twice about his message, which is a terrible predicament for a chaplain, for a minister to have to be in, where he’s now worried about the government coming to get him because of what he said in a sermon, or what he said in a private counseling session with somebody? Nobody should be able to do that. Not in this country.”