CONGRESSMAN: TROOPS BEING PUNISHED FOR EXPRESSING RELIGIOUS FAITH

Todd Starnes, FOX News & Commentary — The House Armed Services Committee is considering a religious liberty amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act Wednesday over fears the military is punishing soldiers for expressing their religious faith.

“The men and women who put their lives on the line to defend our freedoms should not have their own religious freedom jeopardized during their military service,” said Rep. John Fleming (R-LA), who authored the amendment.

Fleming said steps taken in last year’s NDAA only focused on protecting beliefs of service members – and not the exercise or expression of those beliefs.

“My amendment is necessary to ensure that men and women of faith will not be discriminated against in the Armed Forces, and will be free to exercise their religious beliefs,” he said. “Military service members, particularly chaplains, feel like their ability to execute their duties are being greatly limited by some of the policies and actions in the Pentagon.”

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to questions about the congressman’s amendment.

Fleming told Fox News it appears that in some cases members of the U.S. military have been punished because of their religious faith.

“There have been reports,” he said. “We don’t know how widespread it is.”

Among the Incidents

• A service member received a “severe and possibly career-ending reprimand” for expressing his faith’s religious position about homosexuality in a personal religious blog.

• An enlisted service member received a career-ending punishment for sending personal invitations to his promotion party which mentioned that he would be providing Chick-fil-A sandwiches due to his respect for the Defense of Marriage Act.

• A senior military official at Fort Campbell sent out a lengthy email officially instructing officers to recognize “the religious right in America” as a “domestic hate group” akin to the KKK and Neo-Nazis because of its opposition to homosexual behavior.

• An Air Force officer was told to remove a Bible from his desk because it might offend someone. The officer had kept the Bible on the desk for 18 years;

• A chaplain was relieved of his command over a military chapel because, consistent with DOMA’s definition of marriage, he could not allow same-sex weddings to take place in the chapel.

• An enlisted service member was threatened and denied promotion by a senior NCO for expressing – during a personal conversation – his religious belief in support of traditional marriage.

• Last month Rear Admiral William Lee told a National Day of Prayer audience that religious liberty was being threatened by Pentagon lawyers and service members are being told to hide their faith in Christ. “Leaders 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,” he said.

Fleming said the purpose of his amendment is to clarify ambiguities in the Pentagon’s policies.

“The bottom line is the military is bending over backwards to remove – even in the case of chaplains – expressions of faith and conscience,” Fleming said.

And there have been other incidents involving attacks on religious liberty:

Among the Incidents

• A War Games scenario at Fort Leavenworth that identified Christian groups and Evangelical groups as being potential threats;

• A 2009 Dept. of Homeland Security memorandum that identified future threats to national security coming from Evangelicals and pro-life groups;

• A West Point study released by the U.S. Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Center that linked pro-lifers to terrorism;

• Evangelical leader Franklin Graham was uninvited from the Pentagon’s National Day of Prayer service because of his comments about Islam;

• Christian prayers were banned at the funeral services for veterans at Houston’s National Cemetery;

• Bibles were banned at Walter Reed Army Medical Center – a decision that was later rescinded;

• Christian crosses and a steeple were removed from a chapel in Afghanistan because the military said the icons disrespected other religions;

• Catholic chaplains were told not to read a letter to parishioners from their archbishop related to Obamcare mandates. The Secretary of the Army feared the letter could be viewed as a call for civil disobedience.

Fleming said some chaplains are fearful of losing their jobs.

“They are afraid to do anything that could lead to the end of their careers,” he said. “They want to be able to do their duties as chaplains – without fearing that someone will come along and reprimand them.” » Full Article

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About the Author
Todd Starnes is the host of FOX News & Commentary — heard daily on the Fox News Radio network. Throughout his journalism career, Todd has covered a number of high profile stories — taking him from Wall Street to the White House.

He is also a frequent contributor to FOX Nation and FoxNews.com. He has made regular appearances on FOX & Friends and Hannity. His work is heard on hundreds of radio stations around the nation.

In his spare time, Todd is active in his church, plays golf, follows SEC football, and eats barbecue.

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Other Related Todd Starnes Articles

» Congressman: There is a War on Religious Belief in Military

» WH Opposes Religious Liberty Amendment for Military Chaplains

» Admiral Says Christians Told to Hide Their Faith

» Pentagon: Religious Proselytizing is Not Permitted

» Rear Admiral Says Religious Liberty Under Threat in Military

ARMY FORSAKES COMBAT HERO FOR MUSLIMS

'If We Can't Accurately Describe Who The Enemy Is, How Can We Win A War?'

WND TV, America Radio — The U.S. Army has further punished a highly respected and decorated officer in the wake of Muslim groups complaining about the approved course he taught on radical Islam at National Defense University.

In October, WND reported Lt. Col. Matthew Dooley was fired from his position at the school for the way he conducted a class on how to respond to a variety of scenarios instigated by radical Muslims. A visitor to the class found the discussions offensive to Muslims and informed some 57 Islamic organizations, which then complained to Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In addition to the firing, Gen. Dempsey promptly orchestrated a negative Officer Evaluation Report against Dooley that deeply tarnished a career that had received only sterling reviews from West Point through nearly 20 years in the service. Dempsey never discussed the incident with Dooley.

On Sunday, the Washington Times reported Dooley has been punished again, this time as he pursued the role of battalion commander. According to the Times, an Army command selection board studied Dooley’s record and candidacy for a command assignment. The five-member panel agreed to keep Dooley under consideration. Shortly thereafter, Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, who at the time was Army vice chief and subsequently became head of U.S. Central Command, overruled the board in a brief memo. His actions could effectively spell the end of Dooley’s career.

“There was no reason given, and that’s also a very disturbing aspect of it,” said Richard Thompson, president of the Thomas More Law Center, who is representing Dooley in his original appeal of his firing and negative review. “The way they’re treating him now is not only a total miscarriage of justice on a personal level, but it also is really removing an effective combat leader from the Army, and it ultimately effects the national security of the United States.”

Thompson told WND he doesn’t believe this order originated with Gen. Austin. Instead, he believes Gen. Dempsey gave the order and Austin chose to follow so as not to impair his own career. However it happened, he said Lt. Col. Dooley is the victim of a dangerous policy.

“Instead of being loyal to the people that are loyal to you, they would rather throw Lt. Col. Dooley under the bus for their own advancement or to appease the Muslims, which ultimately could lead to the destruction of the United States internally. If we cannot accurately describe who the enemy is, how can we win a war?” asked Thompson.

Dooley’s appeal of his initial punishment is still processing through the military bureaucracy. Thompson said Dooley will file a federal suit to defend his constitutional rights if the Army appeal is denied. » Full Article

» WND

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U.S. Soldiers Murdered At Alarming Rate

Islamic 'Allies' Turn Afghanistan Into Most Dangerous Place On Earth

Drew Zahn, WND — New calculations from WND columnist Diana West suggest the most dangerous murder rate in the world exists not in war-torn Africa or drug-ravaged Columbia, but among U.S.-allied troops being killed by Afghan “friendly” forces.

More than 60 cases of Afghan “allies” murdering members of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, were reported in 2012, a rise from 35 so-called “green-on-blue” killings in 2011.

Thus far, the White House has dismissed the killings as few and unrelated, despite rising numbers and repeated claims from the Taliban that the murders are part of an organized campaign to infiltrate the Afghan-Western alliance.

[...] “While NATO and U.S. defense officials play down the murders of American and other Western forces by their Afghan ‘partners’ and trainees as paltry few incidents,” West writes on her website, “the 62 murders we know about in 2012 (it seems likely there were additional unreported incidents) were committed against the estimated 25,000 American and other Western forces who actually do the training and interacting with the 400,000 Afghans in uniform.

“That converts to 248 homicides per 100,000,” she concludes.

To put the rate in perspective, the U.S. murder rate is 4.2 murders per 100,000. Europe’s rate is 3.5; Russia’s rate is 10.2. Even in Central America, the world’s most murderous sub-region, the murder rate is 17 murders per 100,000. » Read More

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About the Author

Drew Zahn is a former pastor who cut his editing teeth as a member of the award-winning staff of Leadership, Christianity Today's professional journal for church leaders. He is the editor of seven books, including Movie-Based Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching, which sparked his ongoing love affair with film and his weekly WND column, "Popcorn and a (world)view."