HARTFORD, Conn. — A junior officer at a Connecticut submarine base has received an honorable discharge after suing the U.S. Navy, saying his religious beliefs prevent him from participating in the military.
Michael Izbicki, a Naval Academy graduate, was discharged Feb. 16 as a conscientious objector. The paperwork he filed to drop his lawsuit was approved and signed by U.S. District Court officials in Hartford on Tuesday.
The American Civil Liberties Union’s Connecticut chapter sued the Navy on Izbicki’s behalf last year after the Christian was twice denied an honorable discharge, which he requested based on his religious opposition to all war and the potential that he might be expected to kill others.
“I believe that Jesus Christ calls all men to love each other, under all circumstances. I believe his teaching forbids the use of violence. I take the Sermon on the Mount literally,” Izbicki wrote in his application for conscientious objector status.
Izbicki, 25, says he was following his family tradition by enlisting in the military and entered the academy in 2004 and that he began to question his goals after he graduated and began submarine training.
A spokesman for the U.S.
attorney’s office in New Haven, which represented the Navy, said they had no comment about the case.
Muslims found guilty in deadly train fire
AHMADABAD, India - A court investigating one of India’s worst outbursts of communal violence found 31 Muslims guilty of setting fire to a train in which 60 Hindus were killed nine years ago.
The court also acquitted 63 people of participating in the 2002 attack on the train packed with Hindu pilgrims in the western Indian state of Gujarat that triggered deadly anti-Muslim riots in India.
About 1,000 people were killed when groups of Hindus rampaged through Muslim neighborhoods and towns in Gujarat from February to April 2002. Most of the dead were Muslims.
Soon after the verdict was announced Tuesday, special public prosecutor J.M. Panchal said he was satisfied with the court’s decision.
“This is a judicial pronouncement and it cannot be a subject of debate,” Panchal told reporters.
Bill aims to drop faith healers’ shield
PORTLAND, Ore. - Oregon lawmakers say they will push to end legal protection for parents who rely solely on faith healing to treat their dying children.
A proposed bill targets the Followers of Christ, an Oregon City church with a long history of children dying from treatable medical conditions.
State Rep. Carolyn Tomei, D-Milwaukie, said the deaths of three children of church members in recent years prompted her to introduce the bill.
House Bill 2721 would remove spiritual treatment as a defense for all homicide charges.
Legislators and prosecutors hope the threat of long prison sentences will cause church members to reconsider their tradition of rejecting medical treatment in favor of faith healing.
Religion, Pages 27 on 02/24/2011