Yes they can acording to the constitution which states that there can be no state church established not that the state and church are to be seprate. Seperation of church and state are only mentioned once in a letter written by Thomas Jeferson to the baptist for the grief they were going threw because of the state favoring another denomination. The reality is all but two of our founding fathers were christians. Those two being Jeferson and Franklin. This is a country that has been founded on religious principles. Only through missenterprataion throughmissguided liberal agandas has our nation fallen so low that this becomes an issue.

Your response holds no water. Turn it around and ask yourself the same thing: Is not telling a chaplain that he can not pray to the God of his choice enforcing a certain type of religion upon that chaplain? By trying so hard to seem intellectual, your foolishness is put on display for all to see. Good luck with your intellectualism.

I'll give it a try.

;-)

How to answer so many incorrect responses to my earlier post? Most proved my point about religious people vs. intelligent people. Keep off my blog, please; it requires at least an average mind to understand and appreciate it.

An official of the government (i.e., a trooper) is establishing a religion when s/he prays to a particular god or supports a personal belief in her or his official capacity. One does not have individual rights when acting in an official capacity. In such a case, one is an agent of the state. That's what makes it un-Constitutional.

Use those brains, folks. Instead of letting an imaginary god think for you via some so-called holy book, think for yourself, using your brain and attending to the facts.

Open your wallets,grab that slip of paper that says "Federal Reserve Note" and is signed by the Sec. of the Treasury,and read what it says on the back--IN GOD WE TRUST.Should we have to reprint our money in case it offends?How about the Pledge of Allegiance,is that offensive to you?These are examples of things that people,both military and civilian,fought and died for,IDEAS they felt were worth giving up their lives for.When you censure the leading of prayers, when you dictate the words,you cheapen the idea behind that group prayer,the same way you same people would destroy the idea behind the Pledge and our money--the ideas this country was founded on.

One poster wrote, "As I read the article, it does seem the Chaplains are being denied their FIRST Amendment right to free speech. (You'll notice the amendment doesn't go on to say "except when certain groups don't like you to".)"

You must be kidding. When they are acting in the capacity of employees of the VSP, the VSP has every right to restrict their freedom of speech. They would only have a free speech argument if the VSP were trying to restrict what they say off duty, as private citizens. Since that is not what the VSP is doing, the chaplains have no valid complaint. Personally, I'm glad they quit. If this reasonable restriction was too much for them to live with, we're all better off without them.

We pray that someone will bless and protect these officers as they go about their duties. We ask this in the name of whoever. Amen

VIRGINIA STATUTE FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

[Sec. 1] Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the Holy author of our religion, who being Lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as it was in his Almighty power to do; that the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who being themselves but fallible and uninspired men, have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavouring to impose them on others, hath established and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world, and through all time; that to compel a ma

All you who voted yes do not understand the U.S. Constitution. When you have a government official saying prayers of a particular religion, you have the government promoting a certain faith.

Please...educate us then. Quote where in the Constitution it says that.

check out the Constitution. You know....that document you believe it when it's convenient.