"The hostile and discriminatory actions by the Veterans Affairs officials in Houston are outrageous, unconstitutional and must stop," said Jeff Mateer, Esq., general counsel of Liberty Institute. "Government officials who engage in religious discrimination against citizens are breaking the law. Sadly, this seems to be a pattern of behavior at the Houston VA National Cemetery."
Amongst the complaints are these:
VA Forbids Mention of God at Funerals for Veterans and Requires Families to Submit Prayer for Approval to the Government
Government officials told burial teams that prayer and religious speech could no longer be included in the burial ritual unless the family submits a specific prayer or message in writing to Director Ocasio for her approval.
VA instructs the VFW and a Private Funeral Home that they may not present the option of prayer to families.
VA Tells Volunteers to Remove "God Bless" from Condolence Cards to Grieving Families.
VA Closes Cemetery Chapel; Uses it for Storage: The chapel where families used to gather, pray and reflect has been closed and is now called a "meeting facility" and used for storage. The chapel cross and Bible have been removed and the bells that once used to chime are no longer used.
In one example cited in documents filed this week in federal court, cemetery director Arleen Ocasio reportedly told volunteers with the National Memorial Ladies that they had to stop telling the families, “God bless you,” at funerals and that they had to remove the words “God bless” from condolence cards.
