Military Chaplains

* Michael Gallagher gets it wrong with his commentary, “The Chaplain as Instrument of War” (Oct. 27). The 1st Amendment to the Constitution assures that the government will not choose one religion over another and establish or support it financially as the religion of the land (the establishment clause). The 1st Amendment also prohibits the government from interfering in citizens’ free exercise of religion (the free exercise clause).

The Supreme Court has already decided the issue raised by Gallagher by stating that military chaplains do not violate the establishment clause. Chaplains that serve in the military, prisons, mental hospitals, developmental centers and other public institutions supported by taxpayer monies do so in order to assure that people may practice the free exercise of their religion.

Chaplains are not told how to interpret their faith tradition, as Gallagher implies. They serve in these institutions to make sure that people who are isolated from their homes may still enjoy the free exercise of their religious preference.

JOSEPH E. BELTRAN