Six of 17 Virginia State Police chaplains have resigned their clerical duties in protest of a directive effectively forbidding them from invoking the name of Jesus during prayers at public events.
The half-dozen troopers, who perform their chaplain's duties in addition to being sworn law enforcement officers, resigned following an order from Superintendent Col. Steven Flaherty requiring chaplains to offer only nonsectarian prayers at public events.
Flaherty cited a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit earlier this year, in which the court upheld restrictions on sectarian prayer the Fredericksburg City Council placed on its own members for invocations.
"The Colonel respects those chaplains whose convictions and beliefs are in conflict with his request, and is affording those Department chaplains the opportunity to decline participation at Department-sanctioned, public events," Flaherty wrote.
