Pentagon spokesman Nate Christensen stressed that the Defense Department celebrates religious diversity and that military personnel have the full right to exercise their religious beliefs, as long as doing so does not negatively affect the military’s mission or other individuals’ rights.

Tom Carpenter is a co-chair of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy — a group that advocated for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell — a 1970 US Naval Academy graduate, and a former US Marine A-4 pilot.  He recently came out against religious freedom legislation now supported by the endorsing bodies of the vast majority of US military chaplains.  (Carpenter recently repeated near-verbatim atheist talking points rebutting some of the most recent claims of hostility toward religious freedom in the military.)

In apparent shock, Carpenter said, for example: 

Under the so called “Conscience Protections” amendment being proposed by religious conservatives to be added to this year’s National Defense Authorization Act, the Muslim chaplain could tell the Jewish airman that there is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet.

While Carpenter’s diatribe has been vaunted by some critics of religious freedom, it should actually be met by a collective shrug.

After all, Chaplains are already allowed to do exactly what Carpenter fears will come to fruition.

The most-used criticism of efforts to protect religious freedom — including by atheist Jason Torpy and the Rev Sarah Lammert, who called it “alarmist” and a “non-issue,” respectively — has been that chaplains already have the ability to minister in accordance with the dictates of their sending religious denomination.  That means a Muslim chaplain already can do exactly as Carpenter fears, as such a statement would be consistent with his sending faith organization.  Thus, some critics say there is no need for this legislation because chaplains can already exercise their religious liberty, while Carpenter says it should be opposed to restrict that same religious liberty.

Carpenter inadvertently says he views the current status in the US military — with Chaplains able to exercise religious liberty — as bad, and something to be opposed.  In fact, Carpenter specifically targets the holy grail metric of religious freedom in the US military — whether a military chaplain can preach, and willing congregants can hear, a sermon consistent with the tenets of their faith delivered in a military chapel [emphasis added]:

[These advocates want to] have the honor to wear their country’ uniform as officers, be paid by the American taxpayer and be able to preach and counsel as they chose.

To permit this would be contrary to the obligation they accepted when they became military chaplains and took the oath to defend the Constitution of the United States.

Carpenter would have the US government restrict the content of Chaplain’s sermons delivered in religious services.

Tom Carpenter just validated the very need for enshrining these provisions in law.

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