Just one day after their cross was pulled down from their chapel, five US Marines were baptized in Camp Marmal in a public affirmation of their faith:

[A] congregation of worshipers…witnessed the five service members publicly proclaim their belief in a higher power.

At the conclusion of the service, each service member was baptized individually, taking a backward plunge into a tub of water that was placed inside the chapel.

“This [the baptism] is only the beginning of their spiritual journey,” said Maj. Xuan Tran, chaplain…

The symbolic gesture of a water baptism is about making a total commitment to Jesus Christ and seeking redemption for one’s sins, added Tran.

Chaplain Tran made the specific observation that a baptism in Afghanistan is a clear example of the US military’s protection of servicemembers’ Constitutional rights:

As for the ceremony, Tran said it was just one example of how service members deployed in a combat zone, thousands of miles away from the United States are able to exercise the first amendment rights of the Constitution they vowed to defend.

In his efforts to attack religious freedom in the US military, Michael Weinstein said US Marines baptized in California “advanc[ed] the cause” of the enemy’s propaganda.  Think he’ll say anything about these Marines doing the same thing in Afghanistan?

In the end, it doesn’t matter.  The US military does an admirable job of defending the religious freedom of those who serve, even if Michael Weinstein would rather they restrict thos human liberties protected by the US Constitution.