At least six of the Virginia State Police's 17 chaplains have resigned following a request they offer only "nondenominational" prayers during department-sanctioned public events and ceremonies, police said Wednesday.
The request was made by state police Superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty earlier this month and has been decried by Virginia House Republicans as a violation of the First Amendment and an attack on Christianity. One Republican delegate said chaplains were told they could not invoke the name of Jesus, but a state police spokeswoman denied the assertion....
