In June, the Bossier Sheriff’s office, in Louisiana, was informed that they would lose their federal funding for the Young Marines program due to its emphasis on prayer and God. The Young Marines lost 30,000 dollars due to their overt endorsement of religious practice.The Justice Department required that the program remove all references to God and prayer from its program before funding could be reinstated. However, Sheriff Julian Whittington said:

“As Sheriff of Bossier Parish, I will never sign the requested letter preventing these ‘inherently religious activities’ from being part of our program.”

Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu from Louisiana authored a bill called the “Freedom to Pray Act” which would prohibit the withholding of federal funds to programs whose participants voluntarily carry out religious activities. Senator Lindsey Graham has been added on as a co-sponsor of the bill.

Senator Landrieu has been working on this piece of legislation since June 2012 after first hearing that the program was in jeopardy of losing federal funds. She claims the Justice Department clearly overreached because of the voluntary nature of prayer in the Young Marine program. It is quite peculiar to see a Democrat argue for the funding of religious programs, especially when the program is in direct contradiction with the religious clause in First Amendment. In a statement lauding the support of Senator Graham she said,

“The Freedom to Pray Act would allow the Young Marines Program in Bossier City – and other programs in similar situations – to conduct voluntary religious activities without fear of losing their federal funding.”

However, the religious references in the Young Marines don’t appear to be voluntary. As a matter of fact, the Sheriff said that these are “inherently religious activities.” Therefore the Justice Department decision to cut funding from the program isn’t out of line. The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of religion. Giving money to a program that explicitly promotes religious activity — as promoted by the “Freedom to Pray Act” would be in direct violation of that right.

There are several references to God in the Young Marine Program. For example, in the Young Marine handbook one of the first statements that show up is:

“…providing them with a safe place to develop and grow with special emphasis on the love of God…”

Clearly the text outlines a “special emphasis” on God. Therefore this leads to the assumption that religious activity isn’t voluntary, but rather an integral part of the program.

Under the objectives section of the handbook another reference to God appears:

“Instill in its members the ideals of honesty, fairness, courage, respect, loyalty, dependability, attention to duty, love of God and fidelity to our country and its institutions.”

This section clearly states that one of the main objectives of the program is to instill in it members the ideals of loving God. This rhetoric sound eerily similar to any mission statement found in a church bulletin.

Finally, there is an obligation that can be found at the end of the application that states:

“From this day forward, I sincerely promise, I will set an example for all other youth to follow and I shall never do anything that would bring disgrace or honor upon my God…”

These statements clearly show that this program is largely motivated by religious dogma. The practices of prayer and the emphasis on God can’t be considered voluntary. When an applicant signs up he or she must ultimately oblige to serving a God. The Young Marines group isn’t being singled out because of participants voluntarily praying. The program lost funding because it explicitly demands religious adherence in several parts of the handbook. Voluntary prayer is allowed anywhere contrary to popular right-wing belief. However, it isn’t allowed to be federally endorsed when it has become institutionalized in a program, like it is in the Young Marines.