A federal court has ruled that a man who describes himself as a devout Christian, will be allowed to move forward with a lawsuit to remove a Bible on display at a Prisoner of War memorial.
James Chamberlain is suing Alfred Montoya of the VA Medical Center in Manchester, N.H. saying he found a table Bible on display at the memorial offensive because other religious beliefs were not being represented.
The holy book was donated by a German POW who is now 100 years old. The Bible became part of the missing man table honoring missing veterans and POWS at the entranceway of the medical center.
“He thinks excluding people is just wrong,” said attorney Lawrence Vogelman about his Christian client.
According to Vogelman, the Bible display is both offensive to Chamberlain’s Christian beliefs and to his service to the United States.
Judge Paul Barbadoro said he was unsure whether Chamberlain could claim injury because he is a Christian. But Chamberlain’s attorney explained that his client felt it was unchristian to exclude other faiths.
Many veterans showed up at the hearing in support of the Bible display.
One man, of the Northeast POW/MIA Network, told reporters that it would be an affront to the prisoners’ memory not to have the Bible on display.
“The Bible got the POWs through their horrible captivity,’ Morey said. ‘It would actually be an affront to them if it were not represented at the Missing Man table.’
