At the National Review, David French has a well thought out piece that gently but firmly admonishes potential Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee for his assertion that Christians should stay out of the military while President Obama is in office: Read more
It started with a statement by Michael Berry, a former Marine JAG and now counsel with the Liberty Institute, cited in the Washington Times regarding the prosecution of US Navy Chaplain Wes Modder:
Michael Berry…said recent high-profile cases of military chaplains facing punishment for private counseling sessions that reflected the teachings of their religion could cause devout Americans who are qualified for military service to think twice about joining the military.
That statement has now been paraphrased across the internet to say “Christians are leaving the military” or there is “an exodus of Christians from the military.” The Washington Times article itself says US military “morale [and] retention [have been] devastated.”
To be accurate, that isn’t exactly what Berry said. Further, while the current perception of the US military’s attitude toward religious freedom has certainly impacted both recruitment and retention, support for that conclusion is entirely anecdotal. As has been said here before, the plural of anecdote is not “data.”
Still, Berry’s original statement is not unreasonable. His assessment even found its way into an interview with potential Presidential Read more
A few years ago, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein filed a complaint about a promotional video for Christian Embassy, a ministry that seeks to serve senior level government officials, including military leaders. The gist of the “problem” was that uniformed military officers appeared in the video speaking positively about the role of Christian Embassy in their lives.
The result was an investigation by the Inspector General that determined the officers improperly implied military endorsement of Christian Embassy because they appeared on camera, in uniform, and spoke highly of the organization.
While Weinstein was disappointed that his primary complaint had been ignored (he claimed the officers were illegally promoting religion, and the IG disagreed), he was pleased that they’d been found ‘guilty’ of something. He and his assistant Chris Rodda would continue to cite this case and the ‘wear of the uniform/endorsement’ mantra for the next several years. Each time, they made the case that a Christian could not speak of his faith in uniform, because to do so was to imply government endorsement.
In the intervening years, another organization has arisen that has discovered the power of the military uniform.
The American Military Partner Association (AMPA) has used uniformed military members to advocate for legislation as well as “endorse” Read more
[The New York Times editorial said] “The freedom to exercise one’s religion is not under assault in Indiana, or anywhere else in the country. Religious people — including Christians, who continue to make up the majority of Americans — may worship however they wish and say whatever they like.”
There you see religious liberty cut down to freedom of worship. The freedom to worship is most surely part of what religious liberty protects, but religious liberty is not limited to what happens in a church, temple, mosque, or synagogue.
That editorial represents religious liberty redefined before our eyes…
Last month, the Los Angeles Times (repeated at the Stars and Stripes) noted that an Illinois National Guard Soldier was arrested in the Chicago airport as he attempted to leave the country to join ISIS:
Hasan [Edmonds] told the [undercover] agent he had been a member of the U.S. Army National Guard for three years, and had converted to Islam at some point during that time, according to the criminal complaint.
…The cousins met with a second undercover FBI agent and discussed an assault on the base where Hasan Edmonds had been training, the complaint said.
The article notes this isn’t the first time a Read more
An official Navy story from Recruit Training Command goes into great detail about the baptism of some Seaman Recruits during Navy boot camp:
When Seaman Recruit (SR) Antonio Brown, SR Christina Ferrer and SR Shaina Moore answered the call to service by joining the Navy, they also answered the call of God and were baptized March 26, while in boot camp at Recruit Training Command (RTC), Great Lakes.
Joining them were SR Amanda Becerra, SR Jonathon Ingles, and SR Jonathan Jenkins who served as witnesses as well as participants in a rededication ceremony making a public declaration of their own faith.
One of the recruits extolled Read more
A variety of media outlets continue to cover the story of Navy Chaplain (LtCmdr) Wes Modder, who was removed from his unit after complaints that he made offensive statements in counseling.
At the Daily Signal, Kelsey Harkness notes there are actually two chaplains facing sanction right now. Besides Modder, Army Chaplain (Capt) Joe Lawhorn was also punished for telling personal stories involving his faith; his story has faded somewhat from the press, but it is still ongoing.
Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., the only U.S. congressman to also serve as an Air Force Reserve chaplain, believes the military has gone too far in punishing Modder and others like him.
“It’s First Amendment rights for a reason,” Collins told The Daily Signal in an exclusive interview. “Not because you agree with it.”
Rep Collins went further, repeating Read more
USAF LtCol Linell Letendre has been named as a new permanent professor to “lead the law department” for the US Air Force Academy:
“Lt. Col. Letendre’s selection for permanent professor indicates the trust placed in her by those who lead our nation,” said Brig. Gen. Andrew Armacost, the Academy’s dean of the faculty. “Her impeccable record of service and dedication to education will strengthen the Academy and nation as we strive to develop leaders of character.”
Ordinarily such a staffing decision hardly rates notice, much less an official press release, but the status of permanent professor at a military academy requires Senate approval and bestows a permanent rank of Colonel, making it somewhat notable.
Potentially more notable, however, are LtCol Letendre’s unique qualifications. Far from being an unknown JAG, Letendre has become a veritable “go to” legal officer in cases involving religion or homosexuality (or both).
In 2007, she and retired US Army Major David Fitzkee (also a USAFA law professor) co-authored a paper in the Air Force Law Review entitled “Religion in the Military: Navigating the Channel Between the Religion Clauses“. This paper was called a “definitive work” on the subject. As noted previously, Fitzkee wrote an abridged and updated version of this same article in 2012, and both works contained strong positive and strong negative statements on regarding military religious freedom.
Their paper was subsequently published again in Attitudes Aren’t Free, a collection put together by then-LtCol James Parco (an avowed supporter of Michael “Mikey” Weinstein and frequent critic of Christians in the US Air Force).
Letendre was also the legal advisor to US Army General Carter Ham while he was co-chair of the controversial Comprehensive Review Working Group tasked to assess the impact of repealing the policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Letendre’s advice Read more