A directive forbidding military chaplains to pray at November 11 Remembrance Day ceremonies has been lifted.And the military will form a committee to study whether it will enforce a directive banning prayer at all other official ceremonies, said Chaplain General Brig.-Gen. Guy Belisle in a memo to chaplains obtained by the Western Standard.“In light of the questions that have been raised concerning the directive, any chaplain who participates in a Remembrance Day ceremony this year can propose a spiritual reflection or opt for the practice of recent years, which included the recitation of a preamble,” he wrote.Belisle shocked and demoralized multi-faith chaplains when he sent a leaked October 11 memo ordering them to refrain from praying or displaying religious symbols at military public ceremonies, including Remembrance Day.He threatened them with “disciplinary action” if they mentioned God or a higher power or “traumatized” anyone by wearing Christian crosses, the Jewish star of David or Muslim crescents.On Monday he revised the new Spiritual Reflective Directive that pushed God out and embraced woke “inclusivity” allowing only generic motivational ramblings. Betrayed Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) chaplains worry that Belisle’s back peddling is an effort to “throw us a bone” and simply buy time to do damage control after a backlash against the assault on religious freedom.“I continue to support the spirit of this Directive and the hard work of the stakeholders who contributed to its development,” wrote Belisle on Monday.Belisle said he couldn’t “allow the focus to be taken away” from Remembrance Day’s importance and our commitment to honour the sacrifice of all who have gone before us in service to Canada.”“The language used should continue to create an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere that respects the diversity of the community.”Belisle said a policy is “never set in stone and if changes/amendments are necessary, we’ll make them.”“Therefore, it is my intent to form a committee to examine these questions and others in connection to the new Directive to provide more clarity.”“You should know that when I approved this policy, the working group was clear in expressing to me that this Directive was intended to address only the chaplain’s role in public ceremonies where military participation is mandatory.”Well, the backlash included an outcry over the utter disrespect to veterans — who fought and died fighting for God and country and freedoms — by refusing to allow chaplains to pray at Remembrance Day ceremonies honouring them.If Belisle’s intent was to soften the blow of breaking a pact with veterans, violating religious freedom under the Charter of Rights or inspire lost trust in him as the head padre, it failed.“I’m not asking the king for permission to speak on Remembrance Day. A special allowance? Oh, thank you for allowing me to pray on Remembrance Day,” said one chaplain speaking on the condition of anonymity.The chaplain said it was a move in the right direction, but not good enough.“But I want this policy out. I hope his next communication is another email saying we don’t have to waste taxpayer’s resources on a new committee for this. We can scrap this policy together and chaplains will be able to pray in their own tradition.”“This blew up in the media. With my understanding from the inside, that’s why I think this message came.”“He’s not serious about reversing it. He’s more serious about trying to weather the storm and see if we can get over the hump of bad press and then come back with a vengeance and just keep pushing it.”The mainstream media essentially ignored the issue. But the Western Standard, The Epoch Times and LifeSite News refused to ignore the bold assault on religious freedom.The Royal Canadian Legion stood firm and announced prayer would remain an important part of Remembrance Day ceremonies.A few religious leaders took the CAF to task.Roman Catholic Bishop Scott McCaig questioned how “diversity is served” by a prayer ban that would reduce chaplains to “interchangeable generic counsellors or motivational speakers.”The Catholic military ordinary for Canada said the directive violates the Canadian freedoms listed in the Charter of Rights. And Canadians cried foul.“Canadians are upset for a very good reason about this policy. Is he just delaying because of the outcry?” said one chaplain.“They’re (the CAF) saying ‘Just let this blow over, no one cares. Just tell them we’ll throw them a bone. They can have prayer on Remembrance Day, then everybody will forget about it, don’t worry about it.’”The chaplaincy has proven it answers to what is referred to as the “green machine” – military leadership, said the chaplain.“The chaplaincy will do anything to bend a knee to please the green machine.”“They don’t care about our concerns. They don’t care about other people’s concerns. They’re busy pushing the woke agenda. They want to please our master and sadly, our master for the chaplaincy is not God anymore. It’s become the political leaders of our country.”He pointed to the assault on military members religious exemption freedoms under the COVID-19 vaccine mandates.“Suddenly the chaplaincy was reinventing the wheel they used to deal with religious accommodation, coming out with new processes to support the green machine.”Canada’s leaders have forgotten what their role is, said the chaplain.“The government and our chaplain general would do well to recognize that their authority is given by God. Our rights, our freedom of religion, freedom of conscience is not a right that they have given Canadians. These rights were bestowed upon us by God.”“Their role is not to take these rights or to give us these rights — they were never theirs to give us or take. Their role is to protect them.”The chaplain said Canadians must take a stand.“It’s an amazing country and we should not take what we have for granted that is established by the people that fought, bled and died on battle fields protecting our God-given rights and freedoms.”
A directive forbidding military chaplains to pray at November 11 Remembrance Day ceremonies has been lifted.And the military will form a committee to study whether it will enforce a directive banning prayer at all other official ceremonies, said Chaplain General Brig.-Gen. Guy Belisle in a memo to chaplains obtained by the Western Standard.“In light of the questions that have been raised concerning the directive, any chaplain who participates in a Remembrance Day ceremony this year can propose a spiritual reflection or opt for the practice of recent years, which included the recitation of a preamble,” he wrote.Belisle shocked and demoralized multi-faith chaplains when he sent a leaked October 11 memo ordering them to refrain from praying or displaying religious symbols at military public ceremonies, including Remembrance Day.He threatened them with “disciplinary action” if they mentioned God or a higher power or “traumatized” anyone by wearing Christian crosses, the Jewish star of David or Muslim crescents.On Monday he revised the new Spiritual Reflective Directive that pushed God out and embraced woke “inclusivity” allowing only generic motivational ramblings. Betrayed Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) chaplains worry that Belisle’s back peddling is an effort to “throw us a bone” and simply buy time to do damage control after a backlash against the assault on religious freedom.“I continue to support the spirit of this Directive and the hard work of the stakeholders who contributed to its development,” wrote Belisle on Monday.Belisle said he couldn’t “allow the focus to be taken away” from Remembrance Day’s importance and our commitment to honour the sacrifice of all who have gone before us in service to Canada.”“The language used should continue to create an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere that respects the diversity of the community.”Belisle said a policy is “never set in stone and if changes/amendments are necessary, we’ll make them.”“Therefore, it is my intent to form a committee to examine these questions and others in connection to the new Directive to provide more clarity.”“You should know that when I approved this policy, the working group was clear in expressing to me that this Directive was intended to address only the chaplain’s role in public ceremonies where military participation is mandatory.”Well, the backlash included an outcry over the utter disrespect to veterans — who fought and died fighting for God and country and freedoms — by refusing to allow chaplains to pray at Remembrance Day ceremonies honouring them.If Belisle’s intent was to soften the blow of breaking a pact with veterans, violating religious freedom under the Charter of Rights or inspire lost trust in him as the head padre, it failed.“I’m not asking the king for permission to speak on Remembrance Day. A special allowance? Oh, thank you for allowing me to pray on Remembrance Day,” said one chaplain speaking on the condition of anonymity.The chaplain said it was a move in the right direction, but not good enough.“But I want this policy out. I hope his next communication is another email saying we don’t have to waste taxpayer’s resources on a new committee for this. We can scrap this policy together and chaplains will be able to pray in their own tradition.”“This blew up in the media. With my understanding from the inside, that’s why I think this message came.”“He’s not serious about reversing it. He’s more serious about trying to weather the storm and see if we can get over the hump of bad press and then come back with a vengeance and just keep pushing it.”The mainstream media essentially ignored the issue. But the Western Standard, The Epoch Times and LifeSite News refused to ignore the bold assault on religious freedom.The Royal Canadian Legion stood firm and announced prayer would remain an important part of Remembrance Day ceremonies.A few religious leaders took the CAF to task.Roman Catholic Bishop Scott McCaig questioned how “diversity is served” by a prayer ban that would reduce chaplains to “interchangeable generic counsellors or motivational speakers.”The Catholic military ordinary for Canada said the directive violates the Canadian freedoms listed in the Charter of Rights. And Canadians cried foul.“Canadians are upset for a very good reason about this policy. Is he just delaying because of the outcry?” said one chaplain.“They’re (the CAF) saying ‘Just let this blow over, no one cares. Just tell them we’ll throw them a bone. They can have prayer on Remembrance Day, then everybody will forget about it, don’t worry about it.’”The chaplaincy has proven it answers to what is referred to as the “green machine” – military leadership, said the chaplain.“The chaplaincy will do anything to bend a knee to please the green machine.”“They don’t care about our concerns. They don’t care about other people’s concerns. They’re busy pushing the woke agenda. They want to please our master and sadly, our master for the chaplaincy is not God anymore. It’s become the political leaders of our country.”He pointed to the assault on military members religious exemption freedoms under the COVID-19 vaccine mandates.“Suddenly the chaplaincy was reinventing the wheel they used to deal with religious accommodation, coming out with new processes to support the green machine.”Canada’s leaders have forgotten what their role is, said the chaplain.“The government and our chaplain general would do well to recognize that their authority is given by God. Our rights, our freedom of religion, freedom of conscience is not a right that they have given Canadians. These rights were bestowed upon us by God.”“Their role is not to take these rights or to give us these rights — they were never theirs to give us or take. Their role is to protect them.”The chaplain said Canadians must take a stand.“It’s an amazing country and we should not take what we have for granted that is established by the people that fought, bled and died on battle fields protecting our God-given rights and freedoms.”
