VA Changes Policies Regarding Display of Religious Symbols
August 08, 2019
Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie changed the rules regarding the display of religious symbols and materials at VA facilities.
The new policies will allow religious content to be displayed publicly within VA hospitals and other facilities, where and when appropriate, effective July 3. These areas may include lobbies, entrances, exits, security stations, nurses’ stations, hallways and information desks.
Patients now will be able to request religious literature and texts from chapels during their treatment at VA facilities. The VA may now accept donations of religious items and will begin distributing them to patients when and where appropriate.
Wilkie made the policy update in response to claims that individual clinics were interpreting existing rules regarding religious symbols differently. There were concerns that the First Amendment rights of VA patients were potentially being infringed. The new rules will provide clarity and consistency.
The new rules make clear that protecting the religious liberty of all VA patients is a top priority. Wilkie stated specifically that the displays may not only promote one religion over other belief systems and must remain respectful.
The Supreme Court recently decided that a large World War I memorial cross built by the American Legion and displayed at a public intersection in Maryland is Constitutional and can stand where it is. Critics of the memorial claimed that it was an official endorsement of Christianity and that it should not be displayed on public property. The Court rejected that but stopped short of ruling on the public display of religious imagery everywhere.