Army Promotes Officer Previously Reprimanded for Proselytizing

Why was Brig. Gen. Robert L. Caslen Jr. promoted to Major General after being sanctioned by the Army for appearing in a fundraising video for Christian Embassy while in uniform?

On May 1, 2008 the Senate voted to approve an Armed Services Committee decision to elevate Robert Caslen to Major General and make him commander of the 25th Infantry Division even though the Army itself concluded he had "improperly endorsed and participated" in an evangelical group that conducts weekly bible studies at the Pentagon. Caslen is also president of the Officers Christian Fellowship, whose goal is to "raise up a godly military."

The U.S. military is charged with protecting our nation and the rights enshrined in our Constitution, among those being freedom of religion; by promoting Gen. Caslen, however, the U.S. Senate signals its approval of a well documented and growing culture of religious intolerance in the military.

The Secular Coalition for America is disappointed that the U.S. Senate, which represents all Americans in all their diversity, would allow the expansion of a proselytizing Christian evangelical leadership in America's armed forces.