United States Navy indoctrinating children with religious code
Youth recreation and leisure program requires participants to profess: "I believe in God"
Complaint may lead to constitutional challenge, if Navy refuses to remove code

Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of State and Church (HCSSC) has received complaints from Navy personnel concerning an "I believe in God" code printed on the back of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Navy Hawaii membership card that dependent children are required to sign, carry, and present for access to Navy recreation activities, events, and facilities.

On behalf of the complainants, HCSSC has written letters to Admiral Thomas B. Fargo, Commander In Chief, U.S. Pacific Forces, Rear Admiral Robert T. Conway, Jr., Commander, Navy Region Hawaii, and the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, in Washington DC.

The Boys and Girls Club Code reads as follows:

I believe in God and the right to worship according to my own faith and religion.
I believe in America and the American Way of Life… in the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
I believe in fair play, honesty, and sportsmanship.
I believe in my Boys and Girls Club which stands for these things.

The first line of the Boys and Girls Club Code ("Code") is internally inconsistent. It begins with "I believe in God" but then directly contradicts itself by including "…and the right to worship according to my own faith and religion." The dichotomy should be obvious: How can anyone have the "right" to freedom of religious belief when they are first required to profess belief in "God?"

The Code is also discriminatory in that the concept of "God" expressed is exclusive to the monotheistic religions -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam. No other major religion recognizes this singular "God" idea.

Buddhism, for instance, which is the second most popular religion in Hawaii, does not recognize deities of any kind. Shintoism is a pantheistic religion; Hinduism is polytheistic; each accepting concepts of multiple gods. The Native Hawaiian ho`omana (religion) also recognizes numerous gods. Atheism (the lack of religious belief) agnosticism, and secular humanism are widespread in Hawaii; those indifferent to religion represent the largest number by far.

The second line of the Code purports to support the Constitution and the Bill of Rights -- a principle that all Americans can and should support -- yet use of the code in the context of any official government program or activity violates both the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment. The third line of the code would be admirable, were it not combined with the first line, an idea which is neither fair nor honest.

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Navy Hawaii is an official US Navy program (formerly MWR Youth Recreation and Leisure Program) operating for the benefit of all DOD dependent children, using government-owned and taxpayer-funded property and facilities. This statement is supported by the words of Genia Wessels, the Navy program's director, published in Hawaii Navy News, August 10, 2001.

"Although we will always be a Navy program, we are picking up the Boys & Girls Club of America and affiliating ourselves with them in part because people associate quality programs with them. We are switching to that name to show that we are committed to the Boys & Girls Club and what that organization stands for."

Since receiving the complaint from HCSSC, the Public Relations Office of Navy Region Hawaii has refused comment. Just one day after the complaint was filed; however, General Orders were issued at Pearl Harbor that personnel were "not to speak with the media."

HCSSC has demanded the immediate removal of the "I believe in God" code from all materials and property used in conjunction with youth programs and activities at Pearl Harbor or anywhere else under US military jurisdiction.

For more information, contact Mitchell Kahle, HCSSC president, at (808) 524-6208 or by email at hcssc@lava.net.

This wouldn't be the first time HCSSC has challenged the United States military. Back in 1997 we forced the United States Army to demolish 37-foot-tall, 35-ton, steel cross near KoleKole Pass at Scofield Barracks.

September 11, 1997 - Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Group files suit to remove cross at Kolekole Pass

October 21, 1997- Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Kolekole Pass cross ordered dismantled

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