Female Sgt. told by Chaplain, rape must have been God's will

This so called "chaplain" told a woman that being raped must have been God's will and then told her to go to church more! No person in their right mind would suggest such a thing. Being a victim of a crime is not God's will. How could a Chaplain say such a deplorable thing? Yet this is going on all the time when soldiers turn to Chaplains for spiritual help. Being a member of the "wrong" denomination, or no affiliation at all, will bring condemnation from some Chaplains as they tell the soldier they are going to hell unless they covert. Now we hear that a female soldier is told it was God's will because she didn't go to church enough?

Military chaplain: Soldier’s rape ‘must have been God’s will’

By Sahil Kapur
Friday, February 18th, 2011
WASHINGTON – A lawsuit targeting the Pentagon contains an astonishing anecdote about a retired Sergeant's experience after being sexually assaulted by a colleague during a deployment to Afghanistan.

The lawsuit, available here (PDF), was filed by 17 military women against Secretaries of Defense Robert Gates and Donald Rumsfeld in Virginia. It assails "the military's repeated failures to take action in rape cases created a culture where violence against women was tolerated, violating the plaintiffs' Constitutional rights."

Sergeant Rebekah Havrilla alleges in the complaint that in 2006, after her military supervisor repeatedly sexually harassed her, she was raped by a colleague she was working with at the time.

"He pulled her into his bed, held her down, and raped her. He also photographed the rape," it reads. Havrilla reported the incident within a month.

In February 2009, she reported for active duty training and, upon seeing her rapist, went into shock.

"She immediately sought the assistance of the military chaplain," the lawsuit reads. "When SGT Havrilla met with the military chaplain, he told her that 'it must have been God's will for her to be raped' and recommended that she attend church more frequently."

The complains adds that "SGT Havrilla suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic depression."
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Soldier’s rape must have been God’s will