Graveside censorship is blasted

Hundreds of flag-waving demonstrators, including several state and federal lawmakers, converged on Houston National Cemetery on Independence Day to protest reports of religious censorship at burial services there.

They gathered in support of a federal lawsuit filed by the nonprofit Liberty Institute on behalf of American Legion Post 586, Veterans of Foreign Wars District 4 and National Memorial Ladies, a volunteer group that attends burials at the cemetery, which holds almost 70,000 veterans.

The institute last month helped the Medina Valley Independent School District overturn a federal judge's ban that would have forbidden students from asking audience members to join in prayer or bow their heads during a high school graduation.

“We felt it was one of the best ways we could have spent this time of the Fourth of July,” said Marine veteran Steve Cranston, a 58-year-old pastor from Houston. “We feel like it's our duty.”

The suit accuses U.S. Veterans Affairs Department officials and Houston National Cemetery director Arleen Ocasio of banning members of these groups from invoking the names of God or Jesus at burials, and forbidding the recitation of religious messages unless the deceased's family submits the text to her for approval.

In a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Erik Shinseki, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said she was “greatly concerned by the complaints.”

“Our veterans swore to uphold the Constitution with their lives, and they and their families' religious freedom should be honored, not prohibited,” she wrote.

Ocasio hasn't responded to requests for comment. Other VA officials, however, say the names of God and Jesus aren't only allowed during interments, they are freely spoken at national cemeteries across the country, including Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio.

“We cherish the religious freedoms our veterans secured for us,” Steve Muro, the VA's undersecretary for memorial affairs, said in a statement published online.

“At all VA national cemeteries, families are free to choose and use the burial rites and rituals that are meaningful or sacred to them. ... Families are equally free to have a service without religious references.”

Josh Taylor, a spokesman for the VA, said all national cemeteries are subject to the same rules, which allow volunteer groups to include religious content in military funeral honors only at the request of the family of the deceased, and then only the text approved by the family.

More Information New cemetery guidlines

The rules apply only to members of honor guard details, not to clergy or others provided by families.

A statement online from Keith Ethridge, director of the VA National Chaplain Center, said: “VA values and respects every veteran and their family's right to a burial service that honors their faith tradition. VA employs nearly 1,000 chaplains who, every year, preside over thousands of religious burial services, representing veterans of all faiths, in VA National Cemeteries across the country.

“Prayer is a very personal and sacred moment. To honor veterans as they are laid to rest, VA chaplains always pray and preside over religious services according to the veteran's faith tradition and the family's wishes.”

At the Houston protest, U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, told protesters he was furious.

“I apologize,” Olson said. “Outraged is the only word I can think of to say because as a Navy veteran, all sorts of words are coming to my mind right now.”

The congressman was among several lawmakers who spoke at the protest Monday, including U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, state Rep. Allen Fletcher, R-Tomball, state Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, and Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart.

Express-News Staff Writer Josh Brown and the Associated Press contributed to this report.