GOOSE CREEK, S.C. — A Navy chaplain has been reassigned after his commanding officer received complaints about the minister's counseling.
The Post and Courier of Charleston reports that Lt. Cmdr. Wes Modder has been reassigned from the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command pending a hearing on whether the Assemblies of God minister should be removed.
Capt. Jon Fahs, the commander of the training command located in Goose Creek just outside of Charleston, says Modder has disregarded his inclusive duty as a chaplain.
But Modder's attorney says the Navy wants to be "politically correct" despite the chaplain's strict interpretation of scripture.
Mike Berry of the Christian advocacy group the Liberty Institute said Modder is being singled out because he has expressed views against premarital sex and homosexuality.
He said Modder has held his views and has been counseling military personnel for years until "a minute fraction heard something they did not want to hear."
Modder's resume includes service overseas, endorsement letters and work as a spiritual counselor to Navy SEALS. He is eligible to retire in September after 20 years of service.
A letter last month by Fahs accuses Modder of being "unable to function in the diverse and pluralistic environment" of the Navy.
"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," Christianne M. Witten, spokeswoman for the Navy Chaplain Corps, told the newspaper.
