The U.S. military is ‘hostile’ to Christians under Obama; morale, retention devastated

Welcome to the new America, where Christians are hunted and persecuted not only in the military but throughout our society now. Gays are given more rights and deference than Christians at almost every turn. As my friend James Simpson points out, the whole gay rights agenda is a Trojan horse that is being used to subvert the Constitution and our rights. Obama’s “fundamental transformation” of America is almost complete. The way this is progressing, everyone, including gays, will find their rights summarily stripped. America is beginning to resemble Russia, Cuba, China or North Korea more and more. The Left does not care about your rights. They care about one thing and one thing only: their power. We have already gutted our military of weaponry, now we are stripping them of faith. A military with neither of those is no longer a military that protects… it is a force that controls as a nation falls.

From the Washington Times:

Soon there may only be atheists in the foxholes.

Christians are leaving the U.S. military or are discouraged from joining in the first place because of a “hostile work environment” that doesn’t let them express their beliefs openly, religious freedom advocates say.

Michael Berry, senior counsel at the Liberty Institute, a Texas-based legal organization dedicated to defending religious liberty in America, 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.

In December, a chaplain for a Ranger training battalion received an administrative letter of concern after a soldier complained that he advocated Christianity and used the Bible during a mandatory unit suicide-prevention training session. The Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers said the chaplain “used his official position to force his personal religious beliefs on a captive military audience” in an article the group posted on its website.

And, last month, a Navy chaplain was removed from his post and may lose his career after some sailors complained about his private counseling, in which he reportedly advocated against homosexuality and sex outside of marriage.

Mr. Berry represents both chaplains in question.

[…]

Mr. Berry said he thinks the “hostile work environment” that is forcing the most religious persons out of the military is only getting worse, and that while in the past problems were mainly in the Air Force, religious liberty issues have spread throughout all the services.

[…]

While problems in the past have touched all religious groups, Travis Weber, director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Family Research Council, said he’s seen a recent uptick and pattern of Christians facing persecution for religious expression.

[…]

In the chaplain example last month, Navy Chaplain Lt. Cmdr. Wes Modder was removed from his position counseling sailors and could be kicked out of the military for expressing his views on marriage and homosexuality in private sessions. Mr. Berry is representing Lt. Cmdr. Modder, who is still on active duty in Charleston, South Carolina, as the case is reviewed at a higher level.

Mr. Berry said this case even could set a precedent usable outside the military by establishing, as a principle, that the government can punish religious leaders based on the state’s moral disapproval of the church’s teachings, especially in matters of sex.

“If what happened to Chaplain Modder is allowed to stand, it could foretell more instances in which the government tells priests, ministers, chaplains, etc. that their views are unacceptable,” he said.

Mr. Weber said these types of punishments affect both troops and chaplains, since chaplains will feel the need to constantly be looking over their shoulder to avoid punishment, and service members will wonder if chaplains are being honest or just saying what they can say without getting in trouble.

Michael Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said that while chaplains can believe whatever their religion teaches, those who think they must act on religious teachings about sex or sexuality have no place in the military.

“You can continue to believe that internally, but if you have to act on that, the right thing to do is to get out of the U.S. military, because you have no right to tell a member of the military that they’re inferior because of the way they were born,” he said.

[…]

Mr. Weinstein, however, said he thinks the chaplain corps would work better if chaplains were totally outside the military force structure and didn’t have a military rank.

In addition to posing a problem if a chaplain outranks whoever is seeking counseling, having religious leaders in the military serves as propaganda for Islamic extremist groups, who try to paint the U.S. military as the latest group of religious crusaders, he said.

Weinstein is an evil, fascist Progressive troll carrying out the bidding of Barack Obama. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is a play on words… it’s not freedom of religion… it’s freedom from religion. He wants all chaplains out of the military and to make soldiers owe allegiance only to the Commander in Chief – not to God or the American people and that folks is the recipe for dictatorial tyranny. I thought the bit about removing chaplains and religion so that we would not be called crusaders was an especially twisted piece of reasoning. How ironic that Muslims are made exceptions for while Christians are punished. Gays are made way for while those of the Christian faith are persecuted and derided. Government, power and sex now rule the military and the Constitution and faith are no more. How do you like the change now?

Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is an editor and writer for Right Wing News. She owns and blogs at NoisyRoom.net. She is a Constitutional Conservative and NoisyRoom focuses on political and national issues of interest to the American public. Terresa is the editor at Trevor Loudon's site, New Zeal - trevorloudon.com. She also does research at KeyWiki.org. You can email Terresa here. NoisyRoom can be found on Facebook and on Twitter.

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