It was a welcomed victory for
religious freedom for our all-volunteer military. Congress approved (and President Obama signed the
day after Christmas) the 2014 National Defense
Authorization Act (NDAA). This new law contains stronger language than
ever before that assures our service members do not have to give up their own
freedoms while protecting ours. This new
law contains some of Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-Utah) provisions to assure better
implementation of freedom guarantees.
In the past, the Obama Administration
has largely ignored protections for service members. This law provides clear deadlines for the Department of Defense (DoD) to issue new regulations. Military commanders should no longer be in
doubt about America’s historic commitment to religious freedom in the ranks.
This underscoring of basic freedoms
by the U.S. Congress should never have been necessary.
We have seen under this Administration
an unprecedented looking away as the basic rights of service members have been
infringed. ‘Political correctness’ seems
to be the ‘Order of the Day.’ This Administration
has been more interested in using the military as a laboratory for radical
social experimentation than as the sword and shield of the republic.
The need to protect such freedom
goes all the way back to Gen. George Washington in the Continental Army. When he assumed command of the Army in
Massachusetts (in 1775), he soon learned there would be an anti-Catholic
demonstration by some zealots among the largely Protestant force. ‘Pope’s Day’ had been observed for more than a
century among New England Puritans. It
featured sports and games, but it ended with a spectacle. An effigy of the Pope was stuffed with straw
and live cats. Set ablaze, the screaming
of the cats was said to be the screaming of the Popes in hell. Washington put a quick end to such overt
religious bigotry. He reminded his
officers that the cause of America needed help … maybe from Catholic Quebec, and
surely from Catholic France. And he
sternly forbade such a “childish” and “ridiculous” display. Washington put an end to ‘Pope’s Day’ … not
only in the Army … but in the nation at large.
Now compare that to today:
·
When Bibles have been banned at
Walter Reed military hospital near Washington, D.C., the Family Research Council (FRC)
quickly sought congressional support to have those Bibles restored to our
wounded warriors.
·
When a zealous atheist … like Mikey
Weinstein from the so-called Military
Religious Freedom Foundation … calls upon the Air Force Academy
Superintendent to drop “So Help Me God” from the Cadet oath.
·
When the longstanding practice of
the Gideons International … who for
decades handed out pocket Bibles at the MEPS
(Military Entrance Processing Stations)
… are denied the face-to-face distribution.
With the passage and signature of
the 2014 NDAA, the right of each
member of the military to say “So Help Me God” in enlistment, in promotion, and
in taking their initial oaths, has been written (so to speak) in stone.
Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council (himself a
veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps) commended on the brave stand of Coast Guard
Admiral William Lee. The admiral boldly
said if he knew one of his young men had attempted suicide, he would not
hesitate to offer that suffering sailor a Bible. Tony said of Congress’ passage of the 2014 NDAA: “Defending America’s freedom
shouldn’t mean surrendering theirs.” This
is especially the case when the U.S. Constitution they swear “to defend”
guarantees the first freedom of all Americans – the free exercise of religion.
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor,
Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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