Navy Chaplain Faces Charges for Being Intolerant

Chaplain faces possible discharge for being 'intolerant'
Military Times
By Andrew Tilghman, Staff writer
March 11, 2015

"The Navy values, and protects in policy, the rights of its service members, including chaplains, to practice according to the tenets of their faith and respects the rights of each individual to determine their own religious convictions,"

Chaplain Lt. Cmdr. Wesley Modder, second from right, offers an invocation during a 9/11 commemoration ceremony in San Diego in 2012. Modder is at the center of a controversy over religious freedom in the military.
(Photo: MC2 Benjamin Crossley/Navy)

A Pentecostal chaplain once assigned to elite Navy SEAL units may be kicked out of the Navy for allegedly scolding sailors for homosexuality and premarital sex.

Lt. Cmdr. Wesley Modder was given a "detachment for cause" letter on Feb. 17 after his commanders concluded that he is "intolerant" and "unable to function in the diverse and pluralistic environment" of his current assignment at the Navy Nuclear Power Training Command in South Carolina.

Modder denies any wrongdoing and is fighting the dismissal with attorneys from the Liberty Institute, which advocates for religious expression in the military and in public institutions. Modder has served more than 19 years and could lose his retirement benefits if the Navy convenes a board of inquiry and officially separate him before he completes 20 years of service.

Navy Capt. Jon Fahs, NNPTC commander, cited several specific incidents in which Modder offered inappropriate counseling to sailors in the command, according to the detachment for cause letter. The letter states that Modder:

Told a female that she was "shaming herself in the eyes of god" for having premarital sex.

Told another student that homosexuality was wrong and that "the penis was meant for the vagina and not for the anus."

Suggested to a student that he, Modder, had the ability to "save" gay people.

"Berated" a student for becoming pregnant while not married.

Commanders felt that allowing vulnerable sailors to be counseled by Modder is "a recipe for tragedy," according to the letter.

The issue arose after multiple sailors filed equal opportunity complaints about Modder with the command, alleging discrimination.
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