HOUSTON (AP) _ Three Houston veterans groups have joined a pastor’s lawsuit accusing the Department of Veterans Affairs of religious discrimination, saying they’ve been banned at soldiers’ funerals from using religious words such as “God” and are having their prayers censored.
In May, the Rev. Scott Rainey sued to keep the VA from censoring his Memorial Day invocation at Houston National Cemetery. At that time, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order forbidding VA officials from censoring Rainey’s prayer.
The veterans groups say VA officials told them that prayer and religious speech could no longer be part of their burial rituals at the Houston cemetery unless families submit a specific prayer or message in writing to the cemetery’s director, Arleen Ocasio.
Ocasio’s office did not return a phone call seeking comment.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)