by Jorge Gomez • 6 minutes
President-elect Donald Trump nominated Doug Collins to be the next Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Collins most recently served as the U.S. representative for Georgia’s 9th congressional district from 2013 to 2021.
For Americans concerned about religious freedom violations against our nation’s service members and veterans, Collins’ nomination is a sign of hope. Collins’ record shows he’s a staunch protector of religious liberty, especially in the military.
Collins holds a master’s degree in divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and pastored a church for more than a decade. He served as a U.S. Navy chaplain for two years in the late 1980s. After the Sept. 11 attacks, he joined the U.S. Air Force Reserve as a chaplain. Collins completed a 2008-2009 deployment to Iraq and remains active in the Air Force Reserve.
In 2020, Rep. Collins and Rep. Dough Lamborn led 18 of their colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper urging him to protect the religious liberty of service members who were subject to baseless demands from outside, anti-faith groups.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, military chaplains had to adjust their methods in order to fulfill their obligations to their fellow servicemen and women. But radical groups bent on removing faith from the military attacked their lawful actions.
“In recent weeks, an outside organization with a reputation for preying on military chaplains has exploited the current pandemic in an effort to ruin the careers of the hardworking men and women who serve as military chaplains,” Collins said in a statement.
“As a chaplain in the Air Force Reserve, I find these attacks especially atrocious as they threaten the very freedoms our servicemembers fight to protect,” Collins added.
Collins supported First Liberty in our case involving Army Chaplain Joseph Lawhorn. A former commander punished Chaplain Lawhorn because, during a suicide prevention training, he shared his own personal testimony of how his Christian faith helped him counter depression.
Collins sent several letters demanding answers from the military brass about the punishment of service members over their religious beliefs. Collins even spoke out on the mistreatment of Chaplain Lawhorn during a speech on the House floor:
“An Army chaplain gave a suicide awareness and prevention brief as required by the Army and received a letter of concern in his official record… What is a chaplain supposed to do except to share from his own heart in a way that is encouraging to others whether they have faith or no faith? I hope–no, I pray–this counseling record will reflect soon his innocence.”
With Collins’ help, First Liberty won Chaplain Lawhorn’s case. The Army agreed to remove the Letter of Concern from Lawhorn’s file, which saved his career and reputation.
In 2017, Congressman Collins led a letter of support for religious freedom in the U.S Air Force. The Freedom From Religion Foundation argued that prayers led by a chaplain at Pease ANGB overstepped the “separation of Church and State.” The Air Force rebuffed the radical group’s claims.
“Chaplains contribute to the holistic well-being of American troops, and to attack their role is to undermine the free exercise rights of all service members,” Collins said. “I will continue to stand by Pease Air National Guard Base as it protects the freedom of the individuals who sacrifice to preserve the liberties of all Americans.”
In 2014, issued a statement calling out increasing religious hostility in the armed forces:
“Incidents demonstrate a pattern of hostility to Christian organizations and those practicing the faith who are part of the military. Our men and women in uniform have chosen to put their lives on the line for all the freedoms we hold dear, including our First Amendment liberty to worship freely. Members of our military must not be denied this precious right. It’s as simple as that.”
During the Obama administration, Collins introduced a resolution to make clear that chaplains who’d been furloughed during a government shutdown should be able to continue serving. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed this resolution affirming military chaplains as essential employees so that they could return to their duties on behalf of America’s service members.
In addition to supporting military heroes and chaplains, Collins has also stood up for religious freedom in the workplace.
In 2023, Collins co-signed a letter with First Liberty defending Jacob Kersey, a Georgia police officer who was forced to resign after he was told he could not share his religious beliefs on his personal social media account. Our letter to the Port Wentworth Police Department explained that officials unlawfully discriminated against Jacob.
In 2016, First Liberty secured a victory for Dr. Eric Walsh, a lay pastor and public health expert who was an appointee to President Obama’s Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS. The Georgia Department of Health fired Dr. Walsh in an email because of his religious beliefs and the sermons he preached.
Collins issued a statement supporting Dr. Walsh.
“As a lawyer, I am eager to see that the Attorney General handles this case with clarity and fairness,” Collins said. “Dr. Walsh’s sermons remain an expression of his faith, which our courts must protect from discrimination, especially if that discrimination comes from a government agency.”
“I have and will continue to stand for religious liberty and expression for pastors, chaplains, and individuals everywhere, and I oppose any attempts to discourage people from exercising that freedom,” Collins added.
The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty awarded Collins the Torchbearer Award in 2020 for his commitment to fighting for the religious freedom of our nation’s service members.
First Liberty was present at the award ceremony. “Representative Collins has committed his life to the cause of religious freedom for our military, first as a chaplain, and then as a Member of Congress. He personifies the kind of tireless warrior who is deserving of the Torchbearer Award,” said our General Counsel at that time.
“Representative Collins has never refused a call for help when religious liberty has been threatened,” said Chaplain (COL) Ron Crews, Executive Director of the Chaplain Alliance.
“We congratulate our friend Doug Collins on his nomination to become the next U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs,” said First Liberty President, CEO & Chief Counsel Kelly Shackelford.
“Doug’s military career, his experience as an attorney and his service as a United States congressman show a steadfast commitment to religious liberty,” Shackelford added. “He will be a strong defender of America’s veterans, making sure they’re free to enjoy the freedoms for which they served and sacrificed.”
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