U.S. Army Bans Religious Indoctrination, Cautions All Chaplains

The American Civil Liberties Union disclosed today it had received assurances from the United States Army that every effort would be made to avoid any religious indoctrination of Army personnel against their will.

The ACLU said it had received the assurance in a letter from Army Deputy Undersecretary Alfred B. Fitt, sent in response to a complaint about a specific incident which was filed by the ACLU. The complaint dealt with a recent “Character Guidance” lecture held for Army Security Agency School personnel in Fort Devens, Mass.

The ACLU asserted that the presentation last December 5 “consisted of the showing of a film, ‘Brother Jupiter’ presented by The Order of St. Francis which concerned ‘The Nativity.’ ” As part of the program, the ACLU complained, the chaplain delivered a sermon directed solely to Christians, “although the audience was composed of non-Christians as well.”

Lawrence Speiser, director of the organization’s Washington office, added that the organization would still be concerned “even if representatives of all religious faiths gave sermons to such a mixed audience.” He stressed that the enlisted men at the program were being inducted into the armed forces and “had absolutely no choice in the matter, either as to being in the Army or being at those training programs.”

The Army official said in his reply that an inquiry had revealed that a chaplain “did depart from the prepared text” of his presentation at the December 5 lecture. Mr. Fitt assured the ACLU that the Chief of Chaplains would “emphasize the necessity of adhering to approved instructional material” in the future.