RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION AND CENSORSHIP WON'T BE TOLERATED IN VA HOSPITALS, SECRETARY SAYS

National Review

 

Religious Discrimination, Censorship Won’t Be Tolerated in VA Hospitals, Secretary Says

By Ryan Mills

April 3, 2025 3:12 PM

 

The sermons of religious workers in Veterans Affairs medical centers will not be subjected to censorship and a Pennsylvania chaplain facing allegations of inappropriate conduct for delivering a sermon addressing Biblical views on homosexuality will not be reprimanded, according to Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins.

 

In a letter to the Texas-based First Liberty Institute, Collins stated that it is “undisputed and well-settled law that constitutional law and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act protects statements made by all VA Chaplains while delivering sermons in accordance with their ecclesiastical endorsers.”

 

Collins drafted the letter in reference to the case of Russell Trubey, a Protestant chaplain at the Coatesville VA Medical Center near Philadelphia, who is represented by First Liberty and the Independence Law Center. The conservative law firms reached out to Collins in February after they say Trubey’s supervisor, chaplain Brynn White, had him investigated for inappropriate conduct and recommended he be reprimanded for “conduct unbecoming” for preaching a sermon in June that included a Bible passage critical of homosexuality.

 

White also proposed a policy change that would prohibit sermons from including “divisive, culture, or political issues,” and limit sermons to addressing only “commonly-held religious ideals and values across various denominations and people groups,” according to the law firms. She also confirmed that she intended to screen her chaplains’ sermons.

 

National Review wrote about Trubey’s case in February.

 

Trubey’s lawyers contended that he was being subjected to religious discrimination, and that White’s proposed policy changes violated Trubey’s constitutional rights to speak freely and to freely exercise his religion. Collins, a U.S. Air Force Reserve chaplain, agreed.

 

In his letter, he wrote that the letter of reprimand issued to Trubey in November “was made in error and was rescinded once staff were counseled regarding the complexities of the applicable laws.” The VA, he wrote, “is committed to preventing any future misappropriation of the law.” And, he added, “VA confirms that there is no national or local policy or standard operating procedure which inhibits Chaplain sermons.”

 

First Liberty received the letter on Wednesday, though it appears to have been drafted in February. Trubey’s lawyers said they were “thrilled” and “grateful” for Collins’ backing.

 

“Secretary Collins made it clear that the government has no business censoring anyone’s sermon, including military chaplains,” Erin Smith, a First Liberty lawyer, said in a written statement.

 

Randall Wenger of the Independence Law Center added that “Chaplains like Rusty Trubey serve those who have served us—our veterans—and they must be free to meet the spiritual needs of our service members according to conscience and Scripture.”

 

Trubey, a ten-year veteran of the Coatesville VA, delivered the allegedly divisive sermon in June, the second in a two-part series titled “When a Culture Excludes God.”

 

During the sermon, he read a passage from Romans 1, which condemns “shameful” homosexual acts. Before reading the passage, Trubey warned attendees that it could be hard for them, but it was important to first hear the bad news in order to hear God’s good news of hope and redemption, according to Trubey’s lawyers.

 

When Trubey informed White about complaints he’d received, she told him Romans 1 was a “very charged and divisive text” and transferred him out of chaplain services while he was investigated.

 

White’s religious background isn’t clear. A profile of her on the Society for Shamanic Practice’s website describes her as an “ordained minister,” a “board-certified (mental health) chaplain,” and a “shamanic practitioner.”