No First Amendment right of free speech for U.S. soldiers!
Three days ago, our Trail Dust published a post “Christianity to be outlawed in US Military,” on Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), consulting with the Pentagon to develop new policies on religious tolerance, including a policy for court-martialing military chaplains who share the Christian Gospel during spiritual counseling of American troops.
Now we have a statement from the Pentagon confirming that not only will military chaplains be court martialed, any soldier who engages in “religious proselytization” shares their Christian faith with another will also be subjected to court martials and “non-judicial punishments.”
Ken Kuklowski reports for Breitbart.com, May 1, 2013, that the statement, which was released to Fox News, says “Religious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense…. Court martials and non-judicial punishments are decided on a case-by-case basis….”
Weinstein is the head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and says Christians–including chaplains–sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in the military are guilty of “treason,” and of committing an act of “spiritual rape” as serious a crime as “sexual assault.” He also asserted that Christians sharing their faith in the military are “enemies of the Constitution.”
Being convicted in a court martial means that a soldier has committed a crime under federal military law. Punishment for a court martial can include imprisonment and being dishonorably discharged from the military.
This new regulation would severely limit expressions of faith in the military, even on a one-to-one basis between close friends. It could also effectively abolish the position of chaplain in the military, as it would not allow chaplains (or any service members, for that matter), to say anything about their faith that others say led them to think they were being encouraged to make faith part of their life. It’s difficult to imagine how a member of the clergy could give spiritual counseling without saying anything that might be perceived in that fashion.
In response to the Pentagon’s plans, retired Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, who is now executive vice president of the Family Research Council (FRC), said on Fox & Friends Wednesday morning:
“It’s a matter of what do they mean by ‘proselytizing.’ …I think they’ve got their definitions a little confused. If you’re talking about coercion that’s one thing, but if you’re talking about the free exercise of our faith as individual soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines, especially for the chaplains, they I think the worst thing we can do is stop the ability for a soldier to be able to exercise his faith.”
FRC has launched a petition here which has already collected over 40,000 signatures, calling on Secretary Hagel is stop working with Weinstein and his anti-Christian organization to develop military policy regarding religious faith.
Please add your name to the petition! Click here!
See also FOTM’s other posts on Obama’s systematic destruction of the U.S. military:
- “Obama changes military personnel policy to require top officers be reviewed by subordinates,” May 1, 2013.
- “WH: If you can’t pervert the military, then chop it down,” April 11, 2013.
- “Just when our military need help, Obama makes sure they feel the pain,” Mar. 18, 2013.
- “U.S. Army tells soldiers don’t criticize Obama,” Mar. 13, 2013.
~Eowyn
