Disabled veteran denied pain meds because he wouldn't convert

The good news in this is that the VA did send this veteran to a new doctor but the bad news is it ever reached that point. I am a chaplain because I do believe in the power of prayer but faith cannot be forced onto anyone and it is up to them what they believe or not. As a person of faith I see it as my job to show love, compassion and care for others but it is not my job to judge someone, try to convert them or pressure them into anything. I address questions regarding faith carefully, as if what I say matters just as much as the person I am talking to. For a government office to have anyone trying to religiously convert anyone, getting involved in influencing their personal faith at all is way out of line.

A Crusade and a Holy War in the US Military
-- Jason Leopold

An Orthodox Jew and former petty officer in the US Navy said his civil rights were violated after a chaplain and officials at a Veterans Administration hospital in Iowa City, Iowa, tried to convert him to Christianity while he was under the V.A.'s care.

David Miller, 46, who is on full disability, said in an interview that his physician at the Veterans Affairs (V.A.) Medical Center in Iowa City told him last week to go home and pray or meditate in place of using medication to relieve the pain he was experiencing from kidney stones. When Miller complained to V.A. staffers that his physician suggested he turn to God to treat his medical condition and refused to prescribe pain medication, V.A. officials provided him with a new doctor.

"My doctor said that since I am a religious Jew, I should try prayer or meditation to deal with the pain," Miller said. "I was shocked that a medical doctor would make such a suggestion. I immediately raised hell and was assigned a new physician."

Kurt Sickels, a spokesman for the Iowa City V.A. Medical Center, said that he could not comment on Miller's specific allegations against the hospital, but he said the V.A. does not try to convert patients to Christianity.

"We respect all religious preferences and beliefs, and we make every effort to accommodate what those beliefs may be," Sickels said.

If officials tried to convert Miller, Sickels said, the hospital staff is not adhering to its policy.

Miller dresses in the traditional attire required for Orthodox Jews. He started receiving treatment for a heart condition and kidney stones at the Iowa City V.A. hospital after moving back to his hometown two years ago. Since then, he said, a chaplain on duty at the hospital has tried on numerous occasions to convert him to Christianity.

"The first two visits by the Protestant (Assembly of God) chaplain were all about trying to convert me, trying to convince me that I needed Jesus, that Jesus was the Messiah of the Jews too," Miller said. "My medical records clearly indicate that I am Jewish. However, with each admission, I have informed the nursing staff both verbally and in writing that I require kosher food and that I do not wish to be visited by anyone from the chaplain's office. I requested they contact my rabbi, and I provided them with his name and telephone number. Despite these instructions, during all three of my hospitalizations, I have been denied kosher food and have had to endure my entire hospitalizations without eating."

The chaplain, Miller said, provided him with a copy of a scripture from the New Testament, despite Miller's protests that he be left alone. click link for more

How is this possible? It happens while they are in the military and there are some in the VA believing they have every right to get involved in the personal choices of our veterans. Faith is a very personal thing. When they suggest prayer, that is fine as long as they do not get involved in what-who-how the veteran prays. Spirituality is important in healing but that is when it is of their own freewill, needs and beliefs.