[Mb-civic] What the Military Shouldn't Preach - Scott Poppleton - Washington Post Op-Ed

[William Swiggard]

What the Military Shouldn't Preach

By Scott Poppleton
The Washington Post
Monday, March 13, 2006; A15

As the military wrestles with the proper place of religion in its ranks 
it is important to remember that the freedom of the Stars and Stripes 
applies to everyone -- not just those who believe what the majority of 
the United States believes.

I am no stranger to the military. In my 26 years in the Air Force, I 
listened to lunch prayers as an exchange cadet in Bancroft Hall at the 
Naval Academy, and every month I read the chaplain's Bible quotations 
next to our commander's comments in the base paper. I have often asked 
myself as I listened to the "official prayers": What essential military 
need for good order and discipline does this religious program fulfill 
that outweighs my individual beliefs? What gives the U.S. military the 
right or the wisdom to preach in uniform?

Every fighter squadron bulletin board I have ever seen proudly states 
that it is illegal to discriminate based upon a person's race, gender or 
creed (religion). How then do we justify paying one of our commander's 
advisers to preach and write his or her religious views to all the troops?

Many insist that our military clergy have the right to their own freedom 
of religion in their positions. The First Amendment states, "Congress 
shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or 
prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The First Amendment wasn't meant 
to allow a military officer or a government institution the free 
exercise of religion; on the contrary, it was designed to allow the 
individual to be free of the government -- military -- established 
religion. President James Madison thought that paying congressional 
chaplains out of the public treasury was "a palpable violation of equal 
rights as well as of constitutional principles." He went on to say, 
"Even military chaplains are a mistake, mixing as they do political, 
military and ecclesiastical authority."

The Air Force's interim revised religious guidelines, released Feb. 9, 
state: "Public prayer should not imply government endorsement of 
religion and should not usually be a part of routine official business." 
This is vague, at best. When an officer (i.e., chaplain) is in uniform, 
being paid to stand next to the commander and say a prayer at a required 
military formation, what part of that does not imply a full government 
endorsement?

When the commander gives the order to combat, is that optional, too? The 
policy that public prayer should not usually be a part of routine 
official business means the commander can force everyone only "on 
occasion" to listen to the chaplain's prayers.

We are well past the point where we need to reset the baseline of 
individual religious freedom in our military. The first step is to 
provide clear-cut regulatory guidance to our commanders and chaplains 
requiring them to keep their religious views to themselves other than in 
personal settings or at church. If a solemn occasion is appropriate at a 
military ceremony, implement a moment of silence, as we do at every 
public school in our nation.

The next essential step is to reform our dedicated and government-paid 
chaplain corps into a nondenominational and non-religious counseling 
service to aid our commanders in helping everyone under their 
leadership. Let the counselors help with the drug, alcohol and family 
problems that face our forces. Give civilian clergy the right to preach 
and teach in the chapel. In deployed locations, provide time and space 
for service members to conduct services.

We ask members of our military to give up many of their freedoms when 
they serve -- their personal freedom of religion should not be one of them.

The writer is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/12/AR2006031200994.html
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