{"id":22451,"date":"2013-05-06T02:29:34","date_gmt":"2013-05-06T05:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/?p=22451"},"modified":"2016-11-26T01:34:04","modified_gmt":"2016-11-26T04:34:04","slug":"admiral-a-storm-is-coming-for-religious-liberty-in-us-military","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/06\/admiral-a-storm-is-coming-for-religious-liberty-in-us-military\/","title":{"rendered":"Admiral: A Storm is Coming for Religious Liberty in US Military"},"content":{"rendered":"

Update<\/strong><\/span>: Listen to Admiral Lee’s message to the 2013 National Day of Prayer<\/a>.\u00a0 Noted at Baptist Press<\/a>\u00a0and Fox News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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As has now been widely reported<\/a>, US Coast Guard Rear Admiral William Lee spoke “from the heart”<\/a> — rather than his prepared remarks — at the 2013 national observance of the National Day of Prayer<\/a>:<\/p>\n

He recounted a recent meeting with a 24-year-old soldier who had attempted suicide but survived…Lee said when he heard the man\u2019s story, he knew the rules said he should send the man to a chaplain, but his heart said to give him a Bible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lawyers tell me that if I do that, I\u2019m crossing the line,\u201d Lee said. \u201cI\u2019m so glad I\u2019ve crossed that line so many times…\u201d<\/p>\n

Lee pledged not to back down from \u201cmy right under the Constitution to tell a young man that there is hope…\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs one general so aptly put it \u2013 they expect us to check our religion in at the door \u2013 don\u2019t bring that here,\u201d Rear Admiral William Lee told a National Day of Prayer gathering. \u201cLeaders like myself are feeling the constraints of rules and regulations and guidance issued by lawyers that put us in a tighter and tighter box regarding our constitutional right to express our religious faith.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Funny that he’d mention lawyers.\u00a0 Didn’t the Air Force’s highest ranking lawyer, the JAG of the Air Force LtGen Richard Harding, just have a private meeting with Michael Weinstein<\/a>, a former Air Force JAG making a living trying to tighten that box?<\/p>\n

RADM Lee received five <\/em>standing ovations, one nearly a minute long, during his remarks.<\/p>\n

The crowd of religious leaders and lawmakers cheered for nearly a minute when Lee vowed to defy any attempt to curtail religious liberty within the Armed Forces.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am coming out today to tell you I am not going to run from my religious beliefs, from my right under the Constitution to tell a young man there is hope,\u201d he declared…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He warned the audience that a storm was\u00a0approaching religious liberty in\u00a0the US military:<\/p>\n

\u201cYour armed forces, the sons and daughters of the men and women like you,\u201d he said, \u201care being told to hide that light under a basket.\u201d<\/p>\n

He urged them to pray for those who seek to follow Christ in the military.<\/p>\n

\u201cPray that we will be able to weather the storm that I am almost certain will come \u2013 that we will not be required to put aside our Constitutional rights,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Do you think the US military would restrict the Constitutionally protected religious liberties of its troops, without actual <\/em>military necessity?<\/p>\n

If you believe in conspiracy theories, you’ll be keen to know there appears to be no video or audio (at least officially) from RADM Lee’s message.\u00a0 The Christian Post was “live blogging<\/a>” the event, and the stream cut out about 20 minutes into his remarks.\u00a0 Virtually all the other presentations are available on the National Day of Prayer website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Update<\/strong><\/em><\/span>: Americans United for the Separation of Church and State berated ADM Lee<\/a> for “imposing his faith on his subordinates,” though they don’t explicitly say how he did that.<\/p>\n

Also at the HeraldOnline<\/a> and WND<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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