Navy lifts restrictions on moms

The Navy has decided to cancel restrictions on religious speech it had ordered for its Navy for Moms website, according to lawyers who launched a challenge to the policy.

Liberty Counsel had written to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus regarding an apparent imposition of religious discrimination on the website.

As WND reported, the U.S. Navy ordered a chat group on the special website the military set up for families of service members, NavyforMoms.com, to drop the word "Christian" from its title.

The Navy also changed the website's rules to ban all "religious discussions," because such speech "contradicts our purpose by creating unnecessary divisions among site members."

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But Navy Admiral J.F. Kilkenny now has "instructed my staff to remove the current restrictions on religious and political debate."

"The goal of the revised guidelines is to allow for more open discussion without compromising the purpose of the website," he told Liberty Counsel.

The Navy set up the website to provide support and a means of communication for mothers and other loved ones of sailors. Participants formed a group called "Christian Chat," but a website administrator informed the group  it could not use the name.

The administrator said the group's name had to be changed, because such blatantly religious speech is too divisive for a public forum. The Navy for Moms Community Guidelines also were revised to prohibit the posting of religious discussions except for prayers offered for sailors.

Liberty Counsel said the restrictions now have been removed, and the Christian Chat group is free to retain its name.

"Personal freedoms are extremely important to the Navy and my hope is that these updated guidelines provide the best possible balance between the defense of those liberties and the integrity of the website," said Rear Adm. Robin Braun.

"We applaud the Navy for responding by removing the restrictions on religious speech," said Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel. "To forbid 'Christian Chat' as a chat forum for Navy Moms, under the notion that the name is too divisive for a public forum, was absurd."

"To remove the word 'Christian' from a chat forum is like banning hot dogs in a baseball stadium. It is simply unthinkable," he said.

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