Spokesmen for the Navy quickly announced that the policy had been rescinded. The intent of the memo, they said, was not to prevent military patients from receiving desired religious items, but to deter pamphleteers from leaving unwanted material with patients.
Intent is one thing but translation is another. While the command chain may have wanted it to be this way, down the line, no one was off the hook. A trip I made to the old Walter Reed proved that one. Non-religious items were fine for me to give out, but religious book markers and prayer cards were not. The hospital Chaplain was the only one able to give them out, so I handed them over. Now I'm wondering if the hospital Chaplain gave them out or tossed them out.
US Navy rescinds ban on Bibles for patients at Walter Reed hospital
December 06, 2011
Under heavy pressure from Congressional and religious leaders, the US Navy has rescinded a policy that forbade visitors from giving Bibles or religious articles to wounded troops at the nation’s leading military hospital.
In a memo regarding visits to patients at Walter Reed hospital, chief of staff C.W. Callahan wrote: “No religious items (i.e. Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit.” The memo, as written, would have made it impossible for relatives or chaplains to give wounded troops Bibles, Rosaries, or other religious items.
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ALSO
Water Reed rewriting policy on religious items
Decision comes after guidelines were questioned by lawmaker
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Dec 7, 2011 12:33:36 EST
Visitors guidelines at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., are being revised after an Iowa congressman complained Dec. 2 that the rules kept family members, priests, ministers and others from bringing Bibles, rosaries or other religious materials to patients.
A section of the guidelines designed to protect patients from proselytizers was rescinded last week after Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, discussed it on the House floor, asserting it violated the First Amendment protecting free exercise of religion.
The guidelines, signed by Walter Reed-Bethesda’s chief of staff Army Col. Charles Callahan, stated that “No religious items, (i.e. Bibles, reading materials and/or facts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit.”
The intent was to respect patients’ religious practices and preserve their privacy, explained hospital spokeswoman Sandy Dean. She said patients often are visited by volunteers from benevolent organizations as well as strangers, ranging from celebrities, politicians and well-meaning VIPs, and the guidelines were developed to respect patients’ own beliefs.
“If the family, if friends, wanted to bring things in, it was fine,” Dean said. “The way the policy was written was incorrect. … We are rewriting the policy,” she said.
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