For the third year in a row, the US House of Representatives included a religious liberty clause when it passed the annual National Defense Authorization Act. The last two years have required the US military to protect religious expression. This year, after several examples of “confusion” regarding religion in the US military, the amendment to the NDAA requires the military to “issue clearer regulations regarding religious expression.”

Congressman Doug Lamborn proposed the amendment — which was passed unanimously in the divided Congress. Lamborn’s amendment

mandat[es] a rewriting of overly strict Department of Defense and Air Force regulations regarding religious freedom in the military. This…directs the DOD and Air Force to rewrite existing regulations to ensure that verbal and written expressions of individual faith are protected by new regulations.

As a unanimously accepted amendment, it may survive the Senate version of the bill later this year. It will be interesting to see how this language squares with the as-yet unrevealed outcome of the Air Force’s “religious freedom summit.”

Via the FRC blog.

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