"for a Witch, which is not a Witch"

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
August 9, 2023

While some people are screaming about witch hunts today because people have been accused by Grand Juries with evidence against them, they fail to understand that witch trials are being repeated, but not against those charged with crimes. Our laws require evidence because of the Salem Witch Trials. Another thing going on is some people claim their "religious" views should rule over all others. Again, all we have to do is look at the trials to see history has repeated itself but, yet again, they do not understand what really happened.

When Puritans tortured Quakers
Seacoastonline
J. Dennis Robinson
Feb. 20, 2020

Puritans saw themselves as the definers and protectors of “God’s law.” Quakers believed each individual had the right and ability to access the spirit of God.

We need to remember that while tens of thousands of Puritans had migrated to America for religious freedom they were not interested in religious freedom for anyone but themselves.

Quakers arriving in “The Lord’s Kingdom” (New England) in the mid-1600s could have an ear cut off just for showing up. A second ear would be cut off if they returned. A third offense meant having a hole drilled through the tongue with a hot iron. In Massachusetts, Quakers were persecuted, fined, tortured, driven out, and even hanged. learn more here

We have laws to protect the rights of all people to believe and worship, or not, as they see fit and not what others demand from them. No one is supposed to have the right to claim their faith is what all others must abide by. What we see today is not about religion. It is about control.

Apparently, some learned nothing because they want to repeat all of it. Religious freedom means only their faith matters. Accusations no longer need proof or evidence and truth. No matter what they have been shown, can be called a lie and they expect everyone else to believe them, instead of the truth. It is almost as if they have been possessed like Thomas Maule.

THOMAS MAULE, THE QUAKER WHO CRITICIZED THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS – AND GOT AWAY WITH IT

New England Historical Society

He did get fined, whipped and imprisoned

Thomas Maule, an outspoken Quaker, went to prison five times for criticizing Puritans in Salem, Mass. The Puritans also whipped him three times and fined him three times.

He believed in witches, but he also believed God would punish the Salem witch trial prosecutors for miscarrying justice.

He went to court on charges of slander and blasphemy. Historians view his trial as an important development in the freedom of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Maule and his wife Naomi believed in witches. When the Salem witch trials began they testified against Bridget Bishop, the first victim to be hanged. But Maule grew disillusioned with the prosecutors’ murderous frenzy. Twenty people were executed within four months, and 100 more awaited trial when Gov. William Phips returned to his senses and halted the trials

In 1695, several years after the release of the last accused witch, Thomas Maule published a pamphlet. He called it Truth Held Forth and Maintained. In cool and cutting sarcasm, he wrote that God would condemn the witch trial judges. He famously stated, “[F]or it were better that one hundred Witches should live than that one person be put to death for a Witch, which is not a Witch.” learn more here

How did they get away with it? At the time they were suffering from sickness, death, and being attacked by Naumkeag who already lived there. They focused on that while ignoring that it was their land long before the Puritans arrived. Ignoring how the Naumkeags taught them how to survive, they blamed them for the outcome.

"Still, the Naumkeag were not an aggressive people. They did not seek war with Conant’s crew over the misunderstanding, which, tragically and in retrospect, may have sealed their ultimate fate of being forcibly removed from their ancestral lands by colonists. 20th-century historian Sidney Perley describes the tribe as “affable and courteous and well-disposed, ready to devote the best of what they had to the general good.” This temperament was tested, but still remained, in the face of the loss of their homes and the devastation they faced from European diseases that decimated their numbers in the early 1600s. Despite the deaths of their own people, the Naumkeag treated the English with kindness, sharing with them the secrets of a good harvest in the local climate. Perley writes that the Naumkeag instructed the English in “the planting of corn, teaching them to select the finest seed, to observe the best season, to plant in the hills at a distance from each other and cultivate it through the season.” And all of this, again, while dealing with the illnesses foisted upon them unwittingly by the colonists they reached out to aid." (The Witch House)

At first, the Puritans thought all their suffering was about evil people attacking them. They didn't see that evil was attacking them and taking over their own minds. Deaths were blamed on sorcery and witchcraft sent by Satan. Crops failing were blamed on the same cause. After they tortured and killed the innocent people they accused, they turned around and blamed God by saying it was all about God punishing them for what they did. Head smack moment!

Researchers have pointed out that part of what came out of the witch trials was PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.) The villagers would have still been worried it could happen again and they could become the accused instead of the accuser. Those held in jail and tortured while waiting for their trial would have been dealing with it the torture invading their lives. The families of the accused would have been dealing with all of it. All that along with the illnesses, deaths, crop failures, and worried about more attacks even though they either caused or allowed all of it by their own actions. They needed someone to blame instead of facing the fact while they may not have caused it to happen, they caused it to continue.

I no longer wonder why so many people I helped over the years became offended when I asked them about being religious or not. The vast majority said they were not but they were spiritual. Most of them said they believed in God and Jesus but would never again set foot in a church. I also know a lot of "religious" people that put spirituality above the dictates of their chosen affiliation, and praying wherever they were directly to God.

The sad thing for me was when they blamed God for causing what they survived to happen. Those thoughts were caused by what they heard from "religious" people with absolutely as much understanding of the faith they claim to have as the Puritans.

How long all this goes on now is up to us and what we are willing to ignore.

Kathie Costos author of the Ministers Of The Mystery series. The Scribe Of Salem The Visionary Of Salem and the 13th Minister Of Salem.

Don't repeat the "court of oyer and terminer"

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 27, 2023

My head exploded when I saw images of a rally for Trump with signs behind him in red with the words "Witch Hunt." The Witchcraft Trials were the foundation for the laws this nation has had since we became free of such nonsense committed by people claiming religious superiority whilst lying and making false accusations. 

No one is above the law and the law requires evidence. Evidence is gathered and consideration is given to the evidence, not the power or the position of those who are being investigated. With enough evidence given, the person is charged proportionately and appropriately to charges the investigation discovers were committed. Evidence is presented to a jury by the defense as well as the prosecution. Witnesses are called, and questioned by both sides and a jury decides guilt or innocence.

The witch hunts were about accusing people with no evidence, thereby ending their freedom and life as they knew it. If the accused confessed, they spared their lives but were held in jail. They confessed to end the tortures they had to endure simply because they crossed the wrong person. If they would not confess, they were executed. 

THE DEADLY RULES OF MASSACHUSETTS’ COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER "to hear and to determine" New England Historical Society

One of Stoughton’s earliest, and most significant, decisions was to allow the admission of ‘spectral’ evidence (i.e. acts carried out by demons that only an accuser can see). With spectral evidence allowed, Stoughton’s court set about trying and executing witches with astonishing speed.

Stoughton also implemented another rule that moved things along, one that encouraged (or tortured) the accused into confessing that they practiced witchcraft. The court spared those who confessed. Those who would not confess risked death at trial.

And finally, Stoughton sent the jury back to reconsider even when it found an accused witch innocent. The jury, for example, exonerated Rebecca Nourse, Stoughton sent the jurymen back to reconsider, they convicted Nourse and she died on the gallows.

Within two weeks of the court’s establishment, it killed the first alleged witch. Stoughton’s efficiency dovetailed perfectly with the religious leaders’ fervent belief that the devil was attacking the colony. These forces combined to create a powerful killing machine, executing 20 people in just four months with more than 100 prisoners still to try.

End to the Slaughter
The slaughter might have continued had Governor Phips not returned to his senses and put a stop to the lunacy. The bloodshed had finally grown too much for the ministers of the day. They conceded that perhaps innocents were being killed.

The ministers urged Phips to act as the allegations continued to fly, including charges against Phips’ own wife.

In September 1692, Phips ended the court of oyer and terminer, stopping the trials and eventually freeing all the prisoners.

In the aftermath, Phips, as did many of those involved, apologized for his actions. Stoughton, however, never publicly admitted any wrongdoing. A life-long political operator, he continued accumulating wealth and political power until his death in 1701. He willed his estate to Harvard College.

The judges ended up being condemned throughout history however, as we know now, they were not held accountable for all the harm they did. As with the life of Stoughton, he never apologized but was rewarded with power and wealth. He even had a town named after him!

One must wonder how he was so richly rewarded for all the evil acts he committed against innocent people while claiming religious superiority. Since it is Satan himself who is the father of lies, the evidence points to him rewarding Stoughton and not God. If he ever claimed to be blessed or rewarded by god, one should wonder which God he was referring to. Was it in fact God, the same God "who loved the world so much He gave His only begotten Son" or the one so jealous of the Father-God he led a rebellion in Heaven against God?

While it seems all so acceptable for people to use what happened in Salem for their own gains, wealth, power, fame, and attention, the truth is, still the truth. 

Kathie Costos author of Ministers Of The Mystery Series. What happened in Salem is one of the reasons why it was written.

 

Putin turning Ukraine into Orthodox religious war against Christ

Kyiv Theological Seminary (KTS) had earlier issued a general warning. “Generating panic through the spread of manipulative false information is exactly what the enemy seeks,” a communications professor wrote on Tuesday. “This war is not as much for our territories, as it is for our soul and our mind.”

That was on Christianity Today. As Russia Invades Ukraine, Pastors Stay to Serve, Pray … and Resist Prayer requests from Donetsk: “First, to stop the aggressor. But then for peace of mind, to respond with Christian character and not from human hate.”
When you think about what Putin has done, remember this. Matthew 25

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

This is not just about democracy and the right of the Ukrainian people to control their own futures, it is about Putin trying to force them to believe the way he wants them to, when he does not even know what a true Christian is supposed to be!

Putin is ‘making it a religious war’

Salt Lake Tribune
By Lew Nescott Jr.
Religion News Service
Feb. 25, 2022

Head of U.S. Ukrainian Orthodox Church slams Russian leader, Moscow Patriarch Kirill “The responsibility is on him and his soul,” Archbishop Daniel says of the Russian president.

(Alexander Zemlianichenko | The Associated Press) Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, left, talks to President Vladimir Putin, right, during the Easter service in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, April 28, 2019. As Archbishop Daniel, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, watched his home country endure an invasion at the hands of Russia this week, he found himself waffling between two emotions: shock and devastation.

It’s not that he was surprised by tension between the two countries, which is long-standing. The rifts between Russia and Ukraine even extend to the religious realm: In late 2018 and early 2019, Orthodox Christians in Ukraine declared independence, or autocephaly, from the Orthodox Patriarchate in Russia. The Orthodox Church in Constantinople promptly set about recognizing the independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, while Russian Orthodox leaders refused. The result: two opposing Orthodox factions in the country.

But seeing such tensions escalate to the level of armed conflict — with deadly consequences for Ukraine and its people — tore at Archbishop Daniel’s heart.

“I came to the United States of America in 1995, right after the collapse of the Soviet Union,” he said Thursday in an interview for Religion News Service with Lew Nescott Jr., an independent producer covering religion and politics. “I lived through the images of tanks going through Moscow and when the Soviet Union fell.

“Now, 30 years later,” the archbishop said, “I am living through the images of Russian tanks going through the streets, through the sovereign borders of Ukraine.”

I’m asking people of Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Catholic Church and people of goodwill regardless of background to use the weapon of prayer, to soften the heart of the aggressor against Ukrainian people, and to stop the crimes against humanity that we’re experiencing."

read more here

Ukraine Orthodox Church granted independence from Russian Church

BBC
Published 5 January 2019

Ceremonies are taking place in Istanbul to recognise the independence of Ukraine's Orthodox Church from Russia

The Patriarch has signed what is known as a "tomos", a decree officially recognising an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, in the presence of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who travelled to Istanbul for the occasion. Istanbul remained the centre of the Orthodox Church after the Muslim Ottoman Turks occupied the city, then known as Constantinople, in the 15th Century.

The event at St George's cathedral was broadcast live on Ukrainian television.

The tomos will be handed over on Sunday, and brought back to Ukraine on what is the Orthodox Christmas Eve. On Monday - Christmas Day - a celebration and rally will take place in central Kiev.

Upset at losing its Ukrainian parishes, the Russian Orthodox Church - which is the world's largest - has already cut ties with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the spiritual authority of the world's Orthodox church after it recognised the Ukrainian Church's independence.
read more here

Greek Orthodox Church becomes first to recognize Orthodox Church of Ukraine

Ukrainian Weekly
By Alya Shandra/Euromaidan Press

Metropolitan Epifaniy (right) of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine with Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos II, president of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece.

The Greek Orthodox Church has essentially recognized the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which in January was granted autocephaly, or independence, from Moscow by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in a move that angered Russia and caused what some termed the greatest Christian schism since 1054.
read more here
UPDATE
Why does this matter?

Russia’s War on Ukraine Roils the Orthodox Church 2018

By using the Russian Orthodox Church as an instrument of state power in its conflict with Ukraine, the Kremlin galvanized a Ukrainian campaign for independence, or “autocephaly,” for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It also provided justification for the titular head of global orthodoxy, the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, to approve that request.....

Because Constantinople is the ancient seat of the Eastern Orthodox faith, the more than 200 million Orthodox Christians traditionally regard its patriarch as the “first among equals,” and thus the formal leader among the 14 major Orthodox churches. But since the 15th century, the Russian church, as the largest and wealthiest single congregation, has pressed a rival claim to leadership.....

The Kremlin and the Moscow Patriarchate have mounted a diplomatic and disinformation campaign to press the Orthodox patriarchs to question Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s decision and his authority. More aggressive actions are likely to follow. Even if Russia cannot annul Bartholomew’s decision, it will seek to undermine its implementation by swaying opinion, sowing dissension, and instigating conflict. The Associated Press recently documented the invasion of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s computers by Russian hackers. Meanwhile, an iconic Kyiv church, St. Andrew’s, was attacked with a Molotov cocktail after the government transferred it to the Ecumenical Patriarchate. And Ukrainian authorities are investigating priests for allegedly inciting hatred and violence.....

UPDATE
Local churches shun Vatican's moderate stance on Russia
The head of the Polish bishops’ conference has done what Pope Francis has avoided doing by publicly condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
ABC News
By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press
March 5, 2022

ROME -- The head of the Polish bishops’ conference has done what Pope Francis has so far avoided doing: He publicly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and urged the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to use his influence with Vladimir Putin to demand an end to the war and for Russian soldiers to stand down.

“The time will come to settle these crimes, including before the international courts," Archbishop Stanislaw Gądecki warned in his March 2 letter to Patriarch Kirill. “However, even if someone manages to avoid this human justice, there is a tribunal that cannot be avoided.”

UPDATE

Were veterans lied to by the VA Secretary?

Did Department of Veterans Affairs Head Lie to Veterans?

It appears that the Secretary of the VA does not know the history of the VA or he would not have tried to blame Obama for religious groups being shut out of the VA.

I went to Walter Reed as a Chaplain and was not allowed to give certain items to the wounded. I handed them over to Chaplain Services and they gave the gifts away for me.

The practice started before President Obama got into office.

But this issue had nothing to do with the Obama administration, Snopes.com found.

The VA chapel in Iron Mountain had been found to be in noncompliance with Spiritual and Pastoral Procedures that were established by the Department of Veterans Affairs and most recently revised in July 2008, six months before Obama became president.

Those procedures require chapels at VA facilities be maintained as “religiously neutral” whenever they are not being used by chaplains for services associated with a particular faith: The rules state that no permanent religious symbols are to be incorporated in the construction or renovation of chapels.

But this is the headline from The Washington Times and shows what happens when a news source does not care if something is true or not.

VA secretary rejects Obama religious expression rules: 'They did not know the makeup of the force'

Robert Wilkie, the soft-spoken and managerial-minded secretary of Veterans Affairs, went public in a big way this summer when he said he refused to be “bullied” by a federal lawsuit claiming a Bible on display at a New Hampshire VA hospital violated the separation of church and state.

In an interview with The Washington Times in his office at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Mr. Wilkie said displaying a Bible in a VA hospital is a matter of liberty and that the Obama administration erred in trying to eliminate religious symbols from the veterans health care system.

Not so much on reliable reporting on that one!

VA got it right on religious freedom fight and faith won!

update History does not change just because people say it did.

This is the headline from The Washington TimesVA secretary rejects Obama religious expression rules:

That is not what actually happened. This is what happened.

But this issue had nothing to do with the Obama administration, Snopes.com found. The VA chapel in Iron Mountain had been found to be in noncompliance with Spiritual and Pastoral Procedures that were established by the Department of Veterans Affairs and most recently revised in July 2008, six months before Obama became president. Those procedures require chapels at VA facilities be maintained as “religiously neutral” whenever they are not being used by chaplains for services associated with a particular faith: The rules state that no permanent religious symbols are to be incorporated in the construction or renovation of chapels.

Back to the headline from The Washington Times VA secretary rejects Obama religious expression rules: 'They did not know the makeup of the force'

Robert Wilkie, the soft-spoken and managerial-minded secretary of Veterans Affairs, went public in a big way this summer when he said he refused to be “bullied” by a federal lawsuit claiming a Bible on display at a New Hampshire VA hospital violated the separation of church and state. In an interview with The Washington Times in his office at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Mr. Wilkie said displaying a Bible in a VA hospital is a matter of liberty and that the Obama administration erred in trying to eliminate religious symbols from the veterans health care system.

Not so much on reliable reporting on that one!

VA secretary moves to permit public display of religious symbols

STARS AND STRIPES
By NIKKI WENTLING
Published: July 3, 2019

In addition to permitting public displays of religious symbols, the changes allow VA facilities to accept donations of religious literature and symbols, which can now be provided to patients and their families.

WASHINGTON — Citing a need to protect religious liberty, Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie issued new policies Wednesday permitting displays of religious and spiritual symbols in VA facilities.

A Bible is part of a memorial table display at the veterans hospital in Manchester, N.H. KRISTIN PRESSLY/MANCHESTER VA MEDICAL CENTER VIA AP

Religious symbols will now be allowed in public areas of VA facilities, including lobbies, public entrances, security and information desks and nursing stations. In directives sent to VA facilities nationwide, Wilkie clarified that displays “should respect and tolerate differing views” and “should not elevate one belief system over others.”

“We want to make sure that all of our veterans and their families feel welcome at VA, no matter their religious beliefs. Protecting religious liberty is a key part of how we accomplish that goal,” Wilkie said in a statement. “These important changes will bring simplicity and clarity to our policies governing religious and spiritual symbols, helping ensure we are consistently complying with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution at thousands of facilities across the department.”

An official announcement about the new rules cited a recent Supreme Court decision in which a 40-foot “Peace Cross,” a tribute to World War I dead, was permitted to remain at a public intersection in Maryland. The court rejected the argument that the cross was an unconstitutional endorsement of Christianity, but justices didn’t reach an across-the-board consensus about how to handle religious imagery on public property.
read it here

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

84 year old veteran's widow had nerve to lead Bible study....at nursing home?

California veterans home threatens to expel 84-year-old widow for leading Bible study group

Fox News
By Caleb Parke

An 84-year-old widow claims California officials are threatening to kick her out of a residence for veterans if she doesn't stop hosting a longtime Bible study.

Artis Breau, an 84-year-old widow of a WWII veteran, has been threatened with expulsion from a veterans home in California if she doesn't stop leading Bible study. (Google/iStock)

Artis Breau and her husband moved to the Veterans' Home of California in Yountville nine years ago. Breau's husband, who died a few years ago, served as a Merchant Marine, Army, in World War II and then, during the Korean War he served in the Air Force. The two met in the 1950s while she worked at the Pentagon as a civilian employee in the Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army.

She has been volunteering with the chaplaincy program and led Bible studies much of the last decade at an area of the residence known as the Holderman Building, which is a shared space for residents of the home. Recently, the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) notified Breau that she would face "involuntary discharge," or expulsion, from the home if she doesn't give up her status as a volunteer Bible study leader.
read more here

What part of "nor prohibit the free expression" do they not get?

Bible at center of dispute over display at Manchester VA Medical Center

Group says inclusion of Bible gives preference to one faith over another
Andy Hershberger
News Reporter
Feb 27, 2019

MANCHESTER, N.H.
A Bible that was on display at the Manchester Veterans Affairs Medical Center is at the center of a controversy.

 The Bible was carried by a prisoner of war in World War II and then made part of a memorial at the Manchester VA until a veterans group objected and it was removed. Now, there's an effort to put it back.

VA officials said they consider the Bible to be an historical artifact, but people on both sides of the debate said they believe it represents something much more

The Missing Man Table is intended to honor the nation's missing veterans and POWs, but a spokesman for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation said the organization received complaints about a Bible that was originally part of the memorial.

The group asked the VA to remove it, calling its presence intolerable and unconstitutional.
read more here

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Cornell Law

No one is stopping atheists, or anyone else, for believing what...or not believing...as they choose to. So why do they feel they have the right to "prohibit the free expression" of others to do the same?

They complain about everything because they believe in nothing, and that is OK. It is their right. The problem is, most of what they complain about has to do with what people raised funds to do, or began as an act of love, as with the POW MIA Table service.

In the case of the Manchester Bible, it was donated by a WWII POW veteran! So who protects the rights of Christians to "freely express" what they believe in?

As for the monuments the atheists, and freedom from religion crowd want taken down, they do have the right to build their own. But, since they believe nothing, here's a thought. Put up a statue of Ron Reagan.

When someone pushes to have it taken down, they can defend how they have the right to do it protected by the Constitution. Then maybe they'll value that right for everyone too!

POTUS Religious Rule Took Right Away from Wounded!

In 2010 I spent Memorial Day weekend in Washington and had a tour of Walter Reed. As a Chaplain, I received VIP treatment. Between the DAV Auxiliary and the IFOC, Nam Knights and Point Man International Ministries, plus the work online, they knew what I was all about and I knew about their rules on religious items. I respected that and turned over all the religious gifts I brought so that the Walter Reed Chaplain would be able to give them out. They let me give out the pegboard games I brought.

The Administrator knew which of the wounded would be willing to accept a visit from me. I was prepared to pray with them if I was asked. None of them asked for anything more than polite conversation. I prayed for their healing in my head as I hugged those who would accept one.

I had no right to cross the line and push what I wanted to give them when they didn't want it. I had no right to invade their privacy as a stranger if they did not welcome me. I had no right to say anything more to them than "hello" as they walked in the hall while I passed by them. I had no right to try to stop them and speak to them but willingly stopped when they wanted to talk to me.

They paid the price for the freedom we all have to decide on our own what we believe, or what we choose to not believe. They paid the price with their broken bodies and blood. The countless hours of facing death for month after month was a price that came with their jobs for the sake of the rest of us. They paid by being away from their families and friends and those they loved while we were able to enjoy the company of ours and ignore what they were willing to give up for us. 

Had I not understood all that before I walked in the door of Walter Reed, I would have had no business being there, because it would have been all about me and what I wanted to do instead of them and what they were willing to do for me!

This "policy" just took away their rights and gave it over to strangers!

AP FACT CHECK: Trump Misses Whole Story On Hospital Policy
Posted: May 05, 2017

THE FACTS: The policy, in 2011, was a bungled rule that was never enforced, Walter Reed officials said at the time. So it’s unlikely that patients who wanted a Bible or religious item from a visiting family member or friend were denied.

The policy was meant to stop benevolent organizations from bothering patients by proselytizing to them, after complaints surfaced that visitors from some groups were persistent and occasionally even threatening. But it was written too broadly, stating no religious items could be given away or used during a visit.

WASHINGTON - Pitching religious free expression, President Donald Trump accused the former Obama administration Thursday of banning patients at a military hospital from receiving religious items from visitors. That episode is not quite as the president described it.

Here’s what he said and what happened more than five years ago at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland:

TRUMP, citing lawsuits against the Obama administration alleging violations of religious freedom: “The abuses were all over. As just one example, people were forbidden from giving or receiving religious items at a military hospital where our brave service members were being treated, and when they wanted those religious items. These were great, great people. These are great soldiers. They wanted those items. They were precluded from getting them.”
read more here