Chaplain Empie's resignation coincided with (and was likely because of) the appointment of Sylvanus Thayer as Superintendent of the Academy. As you can see, in the early days of West Point, the command opposed chaplains who tried to "transform a military academy into a seminary." During eighteen years of the time, chaplains, representing the Protestant Episcopal clergy, have had the exclusive religious training of the successive classes. It is an all-volunteer force made up of men and women who frequently serve in isolated places and deploy to various regions of the world where they are far from their families and far from the support of their churches, synagogues, and so forth. He was forced to resign in 1838 after being placed under arrest and jailed for three weeks for disregarding the Academy's command structure and regulations and verbally attacking the superintendent. John Paul Jones O'Brien, A Treatise on American Military Laws, and the Practice of Courts Martial; with Suggestions for Their Improvement, (Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard, 1846), 64. It wasn't until 1814, twelve years after West Point was founded and five years after Jefferson left the presidency, that the Academy had its first chaplain, and the first chapel wasn't built until the 1830s. Last year, one of these same groups complained about U.S. service members putting Bible references on dog tags beside their Service emblem. While the death of a venerable Justice like Ginsburg should have been a time for national mourning and reflection. If the religion of any individual requires him to abstain from attendance at any particular form of divine service, and it is made by law a part of his official duty to be present thereat, such law imposes a religious test on this person, and virtually excludes him from office on account of his religious belief."(11). In a strongly worded letter, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas wrote to the Secretary of Defense and questioned whether there is a culture of hostility toward religion in the U.S. Armed Forces. Please consider using PayPal to donate, or check our site again in a couple of hours as they work to resolve any issues. Non-Episcopalian chaplains were required to perform services of the government's preferred religion -- Episcopalianism. This is an issue in which the ACLJ remains engaged. The framers of our constitution were guilty of no such absurdity. Memorials of the Right Reverend Charles Pettit McIlvaine. A great example comes from 1843, when a Catholic Army officer named John Paul Jones O'Brien decided to take a stand for himself and his men. "An established religion is a religion to which persons are legally compelled outwardly to conform. But, the attacking group complained, he lived in an apartment provided by the military and spoke from his balcony. As the Methodists also pointed out in their report, the Episcopalians, although the smallest denomination and one that, if proportionally represented in the military chaplaincy should have had only one chaplain, had more chaplains than all of the much larger denominations combined. 15. Why? Another example of the tradition of service members objecting to mandatory religion comes from the Navy in 1858. This also made him the Superintendent of West Point because, in those days, whoever was the Army's Chief Engineer was also the Superintendent of the Academy. In another part of the same act, however, they officially "created" the position of a chaplain at West Point, who would also be the professor of geography, history, and ethics. According to an 1835 article in The Christian Examiner and General Review about the "almost entire destitution of religious instruction and influence" of religion in the military: "We would not have it forgotten, till such abuses be remedied, that the present bishop of Ohio, when chaplain at West Point, remonstrated in vain against the military entree of the Inspector on the Sabbath, and, immediately after the unholy parade, the roll of drums, and roar of artillery, took for his text, 'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy'; and that the chaplain's dismissal or resignation was so nearly consequent upon this act of moral courage, as fully to authorize the supposition, that they stood in the relation of cause and effect."(8). The constitution, like other laws, deals with acts and with acts only. "It looks like this was a really bad marriage for you, like you got in bed with someone and it didn't work out to well for you. Journal of the Senate of the United States of America, vol. The Presbyterians and Congregationalists were represented for five years, and the Methodist Episcopal Church, a Church which gave more men to the nation during its years of peril than any other, was represented just three weeks!