An Army chaplain is fighting back against an investigator’s recommendation that he should be disciplined after refusing to facilitate a marriage retreat that includes same-sex couples.
Earlier this year, Army Maj. Scott Squires was serving as a chaplain at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. There, he told a soldier he was unable to conduct a marriage retreat that included the soldier and the soldier’s same-sex partner due to his church’s restrictions.
An Army investigator later concluded Squires discriminated against the service member.
But Squires was following the requirements of his chaplain endorsing agency, the North American Mission Board (NAMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention, according to Mike Berry, an attorney at First Liberty Institute, the religious liberties group representing Squires in his appeal.
First Liberty sent a letter to the Army urging it to reverse the investigator’s decision.