At an “undisclosed location,” US Air Force Chief of Chaplains (MGen) Dondi Costin led an interfaith Thanksgiving service noting, as he often does, the religious freedom that protects the rights of US troops to exercise their faiths [emphasis added]:

“The very first amendment [in the Bill of Rights] is that every American has the right to freely exercise their faith,” said Maj. Gen. Dondi Costin, Air Force Chief of Chaplains. “From the [beginning] our founding fathers understood that part of being American is allowing everybody to live in the way that their God would have them to live.”

Sounds like something that needs to be relearned in some parts of society today, when groups of people who associate based on behavior believe they should be able to make others support, condone, or celebrate their behavior — even if to do so would cause them to violate the way “their God would have them to live.”

That’s Masterpiece Cakeshop v Colorado Civil Rights Commission, by the way.

Chaplain Costin also reiterated the value of faith:

Costin says that when it comes to spiritual fitness, research has demonstrated clearly that people who are involved in faith communities tend to do better in relationships, have a better general well-being and tend to live healthier lives.

It is refreshing — if rare — to hear a military leader not merely defend the right to exercise faith, but also to expound upon the virtues of faith. No one, not even the military or the government, needs to fear, avoid, or stigmatize faith — or the Truth.

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