Steven Latimer

This morning, I awoke bright and early and headed down to Capitol Square for the "Save the Chaplains" rally. Anywhere from 500 to 1,000 diverse Virginians came out to the mostly Evangelical-appearing event (I'm bad at estimating crowd sizes - hence the wide range).

The gist of the matter was that it goes against America's and Virginia's founding principles and it is bad public policy to mandate to whom Virginia State Police chaplains may or may not pray.

None of the speakers, guests, or rally-goers expressed hostility or negative sentiment to Governor Tim Kaine (who was clearly not in attendance), just their disappointment in his refusal to reinstate these chaplains who had to resign their claplaincies or be terminated from their positions. Tim Kaine is a good Christian, and the rally-goers were simply redressing their grievances, stated one of the speakers.

The speakers at this event made it clear that they are not trying to force any particular faith on anyone. That would be rude. Rather, they find it in poor taste to tell someone that they cannot pray to whomever they wish.

I brought my digital camera with me and took video. First, State Senator Steve Martin belts out the first and fourth verses of the national anthem:



Martin along with Delegate Bill Carrico reported that legislation is on its way that will prevent future incidents like this from happening in Virginia. (The Virginia General Assembly convenes in January 2009, a mere two months from now.)

Later, Mathew Staver, the dean of Liberty University's School of Law speaks on the rule of law and American heritage:



To add my two cents worth, I find this entire situation patently unfair and wrong. I can only hope this event convinces Governor Kaine otherwise and highlights the situation to the general populace.