Over the past year, I have written several articles on these pages about how unwelcome Christians and conservatives are in the new Obama military.  The repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and the open military service of homosexuals in the military, and former Defense Secretary Panetta’s lifting of the ban on women in combat beginning in 2016, makes the United States military an increasingly unwelcome (and hazardous) environment for more conservative and/or Christian believers.  Moreover, the increasing high number of sexual assaults on both male and female military personnel makes the military a dangerous place, and not merely from enemy soldiers and combatants.  Accordingly, after decades of encouraging young people to consider the military, several years ago, I came to the sad conclusion that the military should not longer be an option for Christian and more conservative young people.

In light of the manufactured pain of President Obama’s “Sequester,” military leaders complain that those budget cuts will hurt the morale of troops, military readiness, and damage the Pentagon’s ability to recruit an all-volunteer force, even though they continue to purchase “green” jet fuel that is almost sixteen times the price of conventional jet fuel.  So, while the Sequester may be blamed by the generals and Obama political appointees at the Pentagon for what I suspect will prove to be an increasing inability to recruit an all-volunteer military force, there may be a lesser known Pentagon measure that can make recruiting far worse.

According to numerous press reports, President Obama Pentagon appointees met privately on April 23, 2013, with Military Religious Freedom Foundation (“MRFF”) officials, a decidedly anti-Christian group, to develop court-martial procedures to punish Christians in the military (including chaplains) who express or share their faith with others.  (Yes, to let the full gravity of that sentence sink in, please re-read that last sentence.)  This arises from a military policy called “Air Force Culture, Air Force Standards,” published on Aug. 7, 2012.

Section 2.11 of that Air Force regulation states:

Government Neutrality Regarding Religion.  Leaders at all levels must balance constitutional protections for an individual’s free exercise of religion or other personal beliefs and the constitutional prohibition against governmental establishment of religion.  For example, they must avoid the actual or apparent use of their position to promote their personal religious beliefs to their subordinates or to extend preferential treatment for any religion.  Commanders or supervisors who engage in such behavior may cause members to doubt their impartiality and objectivity.  The potential result is a degradation of the unit’s morale, good order, and discipline.  Airmen, especially commanders and supervisors, must ensure that in exercising their right of religious free expression, they do not degrade morale, good order, and discipline in the Air force or degrade the trust and confidence that the public has in the United States Air Force.

(Emphasis added.)

MRFF president, Michael L. (Mikey) Weinstein, Esq., in an interview with Fox News, stated that U.S. troops who proselytize are guilty of sedition and treason and should be punished – by the hundreds if necessary – to stave off what he called a “tidal wave of fundamentalists.”  Mr. Weinstein observed, “Someone needs to be punished for this.  Until the Air Force or Army or Navy or Marine Corps punishes a member of the military for unconstitutional religious proselytizing and oppression, we will never have the ability to stop this horrible, horrendous, dehumanizing behavior.”  Mr. Weinstein further wrote in the Huffington Post, “Today, we face incredibly well-funded gangs of fundamentalist Christian monsters who terrorize their fellow Americans by forcing their weaponized and twisted version of Christianity upon their helpless subordinates in our nation’s armed forces.”  (Read Mr. Weinstein’s full article here.)  He further compared the act of Christian proselytization to rape.  Mr. Weinstein told Fox News, “It is a version of being spiritually raped and you are being spiritually raped by fundamentalist Christian religious predators.  When those people [isn’t that dehumanizing term itself, Mr. Weinstein?] are in uniform and they believe there is no time, place or manner in which they can be restricted from proselytizing, they are creating tyranny, oppression, degradation, humiliation and horrible, horrible pain upon members of the military.”  So, there you have it!

Now in more normal times, that would be just one man’s ignorant and bigoted opinion, but it does seem to resonate with Obama political appointees and sycophantic generals at the Pentagon.  And we will see whether the military will actually enforce its own guidelines (I suspect that they will try), or whether any federal judge will affirm such a court-martial on First Amendment free speech grounds.  However, the Pentagon did confirm to Fox News that Christian evangelism is now against regulations.  “Religious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense,” Commander Nate Christensen said in a written statement.  He did decline to say if any chaplains or service members had been prosecuted for such an offense.  “Court Martials and non-judicial punishments are decided on a case-by-case basis and it would be inappropriate to speculate on the outcome in specific cases.”  Several days later, realizing that the military had opened a proverbial hornet’s nest, the Pentagon indicated on May 2^nd that, of course, evangelization is still permitted, but the rights of all believers and non-believers will be protected from aggressive proselytizing.  Lt. Col. Laurel Tingley clarified the Air Force position: “When on duty or in an official capacity, Air Force members are free to express their personal religious beliefs as long as it does not make others uncomfortable.”  (Emphasis added.)  Could the mere presence of a Bible passively on a sergeant’s desk, or a “I LOVE JESUS” bumper sticker to a lieutenant’s car make someone “feel uncomfortable?”

Ron Crews, the executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, warned that the Air Force policy would “significantly impact the religious liberties of Air Force personnel.  Saying that a service member cannot speak of his faith is like telling a service member he cannot talk about his spouse or children.  I do not think the Air Force wants to ban personnel from protected religious speech, and I certainly hope that it is willing to listen to the numerous individuals and groups who protect military religious liberty without demonizing service members.”  Perhaps that is what the American people voted for last November.  But for Obama Pentagon officials and some of their high-ranking officer minions, the problems facing our military seem less likely to be Islamic terrorists in our midst and abroad, but those really pesky evangelistic Christian believers.  Of course, they are only sharing with others about the most important decision and relationship of their lives.  But again, I warn:  Christian and/or conservative young people, you would be prudent to find something better to do than to join our military!  For those of us who are signers of the Manhattan Declaration, it also seems to me that we are growing closer to the day when civil disobedience will be necessary.

Soldiers in the Roman army in ancient times ran afoul of the Imperial cult when they testified to their allegiance to Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lord, Caesar of caesars if you will. Today’s Pentagon is not threatening capital punishment but merely a court martial to any one sharing his faith in Christ  with another soldier. There is some debate as to the intent of this–there have been some reported incidents of superior officers who are Christian forcing servicemen to attend religious services, for instance. But proselytization is a word that, in the view of a secularist judge, might include sharing one’s faith in the most natural way, in the midst of a conversation about life and death matters. One soldier says to another soldier about his demeanor after a harrowing experience, “How do you manage to take it?” He say, “I say the ‘Jesus Prayer.’” “What’s that?” Oh, no, don’t talk about it?

Recently I was asked to give a short talk for a young couple at a bridal shower. As I prepared my remarks, I found that next to the Scriptures, I most relied upon past issues of Touchstone Magazine. I spent three days surveying the archives and my own hard copies for suitable commentary on the joy of marriage and the importance of recognizing the holiness of the covenant we make with each other and Christ. Each issue with which I reacquainted myself offered an article from which much Biblically inspired wisdom could be mined. I realized how very thankful I am for the wealth of Christian thought I have had access to over the last fifteen years. Touchstone Magazine has strengthened my convictions and sharpened my ability to defend my faith. This realization has prompted me to begin a tradition of giving Touchstone Magazine as wedding gift to young couples.

In Christ,
Gina M. Danaher

Give a subscription to Touchstone!

And here is a selection of articles on Christian marriage:

A Rite for the Uncommitted: Samuel Pascoe on “Shacking Up”

Five Rings & a Wedding: Marriage & the Concentric Communities That Surround It by Allan Carlson

Sexes United–A review of Marriage: The Dream That Refuses to Die by Elizabeth Fox-Genovese reviewed by Anne Hendershott

Meaningful Intercourse: The Rise & Fall of the Sexual Constitution of Christian Civilization by Allan Carlson

One Flesh of Purest Gold: John Chrysostom’s Discovery of the Blessings & Mysteries of Marriage by Mike Aquilina

This coming Thursday, May 2, 2013, is the National Day of Prayer.  Over the centuries, and long before our nation was established, our ancestors had a rich history of prayer.  In fact, by 1815, some 1,400 official calls to prayer had been issued by governmental leaders, including calls for Days of Prayer and Fasting, and Days of Thanksgiving.  On those days, Americans would gather at churches where pastors would preach a sermon addressing the topics identified in the proclamation, and then they would all pray.  (www.wallbuilders.org has recently posted some of these sermons on its website.  I was most touched by a sermon preached by the Rev. Henry Colman of Massachusetts on August 12, 1812, in response to a proclamation issued by President James Madison during the War of 1812, available here.)

On this coming Thursday, citizens and congregations will gather together as tens of thousands of groups, churches, and in many other public venues throughout our land.   To find any of these locations, please visit the National Day of Prayer official site at nationaldayofprayer.org.

And if you are unable to attend one of the prayer meetings in person, please take time to individually lift up our nation, government, leaders, military, families, businesses, schools, and places of worship, fervently asking for God’s grace, mercy, and blessing on the nation as we humble ourselves before Him.  Despite the fact that the United States has been greatly blessed by God, our nation is today in great need and peril from wickedness and murder.  Many of us have permitted impurity and selfishness in our lives, we have hoarded wealth and lacked compassion for the poor, but most of all, we have not been zealous in living and sharing our Christian faith with those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ.  We should plead with God that we should be the church and people that the Lord Jesus Christ would want us to be, even unto death.  May God bless our land as we humble ourselves, and pray and seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways.