U.S. Navy rejects "Humanist" chaplain; GOP influenced decision, according to report

Despite a recommendation from the Navy Chaplain Appointment and Retention Eligibility Advisory Board, the Navy has denied the application of Jason Heap to become the military’s first Humanist chaplain.

It comes in the wake of strong pushback to his appointment from congressional Republicans. Republican Senator Roger Wicker and nearly two dozen of his GOP colleagues wrote a letter to the Navy last week calling Heap’s potential approval a “grave mistake.”

Wicker was quick to celebrate Heap’s rejection in a press release today:

“The Navy’s leadership has done the right thing,” Wicker said. “The appointment of an atheist to an undeniably religious position is fundamentally incompatible with atheism’s secularism. This decision preserves the distinct religious role that our chaplains carry out.”