William Payne: Threats to Religious Freedom in the U.S. Military

on August 23, 2014

Rev. William Payne, PhD is Harlan and Wilma Hollewell Professor of Evangelism and World Missions  and Chaplaincy Studies at Ashland Theological Seminary and a retired chaplain in the U.S. Navy.

 

Recently it was reported that Bibles had to be removed from all Navy lodging facilities. In fact, Navy Chaplains have to dispose of the rejected bibles. I noticed this trend in 2010. At that time, Navy Gateway Lodges told service personnel that we could borrow a bible from the front desk if we wanted one since they were all removed from the rooms. When I tried to borrow a bible in San Diego and Norfolk they did not have any to lend out. Since the lodges are used by military travelers who may not have room to pack personal bibles, they were appreciated.

Previously, the Army temporarily banned bibles and other devotional material from its flagship hospital at Walter Reed. A September 2011 memo states, “No religious items (i.e. Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit [at Walter Reed Hospital].” According to service member complaints, the ban did not allow family members to read the bible to severely injured personnel recovering from war injuries. In rescinding the ban, the Army said that it improperly imposed the prohibition to prevent proselytism. It is unfortunate that the Army equates easy access to bibles with proselytism; that is, an unwelcome attempt to convert someone to another religion by force or coercion. Actually, how does a bible in a drawer proselytize someone?

Since spiritual fitness is a stated goal of DoN, giving personnel easy access to devotional materials enables that goal. Additionally, the separation of church and state does not require the Navy to remove bibles and other devotional materials from military lodges because the Supreme Court has ruled that accommodating a religious need is not the same as establishing or promoting a particular religion. In fact, the military is required to accommodate the religious needs of military personnel. Furthermore, facilitating the free exercise of religion is the legal justification for having chaplains in the military. For these reasons, the order to remove all bibles from Navy lodging facilities is problematic, especially when one recognizes that the military did not buy the bible or have to maintain them.

This is the larger issue. As secularism tightens its grip on American society, the country is becoming less receptive to religious expression in the public square. According to the global “social hostility to religion index,” in 2012 the USA moved from the Low to the Moderate Zone due to repeated incidence of religious bigotry and increasing government intolerance.

I hope that the administration will realize the need to partner with faith traditions as it seeks to re-instill morality and spiritual fitness into the core culture of the military; especially in light of the rash of ethical and moral breaches that have compromised readiness, hurt good order and discipline, and damaged public confidence in the military.

  1. Comment by Dan on August 23, 2014 at 10:43 am

    The administration is not becoming less receptive to religious expression, it is hostile towards Christian religious expression. I don’t see anything but accommodation to Muslim, Wiccan, etc. expression. The only religious expression being repressed is Christian. Just as the regime’s worldview is that the U.S. has historically oppressed people and cultures around the world, it also views Christianity as historically aligned with U.S. culture and therefore Christianity needs to be “taken down a peg” to bring retributive justice to U.S. Christians who are responsible for so much oppression of people around the world. I haven’t read “The Audacity of Hope,” but from what I understand it is not complimentary to Christianity, particularly organized Christianity.

  2. Comment by John S. on September 3, 2014 at 8:17 am

    An increase in the access, visibility and influence of all religions dilutes the access, visibility and influence of all religions. The administration is simply reflecting the society on this point.

  3. Comment by Alan Wakefield on September 17, 2014 at 7:07 pm

    Dan, I appreciate your comments, You are correct. So please do not take my comments as confrontational toward you, what I say I say because I am deeply concerned for the direction the world is taking and it is my position that we, as Christians, are greatly responsible for the problems in the world today. We had the TRUTH, we have the TRUTH and we are afraid to tell the world THE TRUTH. See article above where I reveal God has clearly identified TWO CHOICES, Jesus Christ or satan. There is NO SUCH THING AS ATHEISM or any other God-rejecting ism or any other Christ rejecting “religion.” God had said it clearly, and He has ordered His human creation to make their choice as to which one they choose to worship, Christ or satan. THERE IS NO OPT-OUT POSITION. Never has been, never will be.
    The precept is simple, easy to learn, easy to prove, easy to teach. As a Believer I am NOT THE LEAST BIT CONCERNED for my personal welfare. My concern is my complicity in the carnage that will shortly take place in the world, my failure to more forcefully, more lovingly, share the Gospel with the satan worshipers of the world. And my inability to convince my fellow-Believers of their responsibility to get this fundamental TRUTH to the world.

  4. Comment by ken on August 25, 2014 at 9:37 am

    As Dan pointed out, the target is not religion in general, the government can tolerate ABC — Anything But Christianity.

  5. Comment by Alan Wakefield on September 17, 2014 at 6:49 pm

    Would a born again Believer order anyone, military or not, to get rid of his Bible? Does the Order removing Bibles tell us anything about those issuing such an Order? Does the Order tell us anything about ourselves, as Christians, things we have done, or failed to do, that would would make those issuing such an Order comfortable with their action? Are we, as Believers, completely blameless for such a state
    of affairs, i.e. our government pursuing an anti-Biblical,
    anti-Christian policy? Are these officials simply atheist? Are they simply obeying a valid concept based upon separation of church and state? Is separation of church and state a valid, supportable idea? How would the teachers of America’s Founding Fathers respond to separation of church and state? Here is William Blackstone, leading
    mentor to our founders: “Upon these two foundations, the law of nature and the law of revelation, depend all human laws; that is to say no human law should be suffered (allowed) to contradict these.” And where do we learn this Law of which Blackstone speaks, the Law of God? We learn God’s Law in God’s Word, the Bible. And how does God
    identify those who reject His Word? Atheist? There ain’t no such animal! Agnostic? Once again, no such animal! Deist? No such animal! Those loving and serving God we identify as born again. Their name is writ large in the Lamb’s Book of Life. What about those whose names are NOT found in the Book of Life, how does God characterize them?
    We find that answer in The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ: “And they worshiped the dragon (satan)…And ALL that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (satan), whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:4 & 8). The ONLY way to have one’s name writ into The Book of Life is “You must be born again.”(Gospel of John,
    3:7) If your name is NOT in The Book of Life, you are a satan worshiper. This clear, direct precept, from Jesus Christ Himself, IS POSSIBLY THE BEST KEPT SECRET IN ALL CHRISTENDOM! God has clearly identified all who reject Him and His Word as satan worshiper. Those military
    officers rejecting the Bible, God’s Word, are most certainly NOT born again. What does that make them, according to God’s Word? To identify them as anything other than satan worshiper is blasphemy. Blasphemy is defined as any word, deed or thought that contradicts the Word of God (Thank God He paid for ALL our sin at the cross). Those Bibles being removed are the result of years of failure by God’s
    people to understand and teach the simple, Biblical precept, as taught by Jesus in Revelation 13, that precept being THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE OR ATHEISM. We blaspheme if
    we fail to tell these satan worshipers they are satan worshipers. I truly believe they DO NOT WANT TO BE satan worshipers. That is the reason behind satan’s biggest lie, “I don’t exist,” satan knows no one in their right mind wants to worship satan! But if we do not love them enough (Gospel of Luke, 6:27-28) to tell them, how are they to know? In the Garden of our first parents there were TWO CHOICES, Christ or satan, when Jesus walked the Earth He identified the same TWO CHOICES, “Render unto Caesar” representing satan, “the god of this world,” or “render unto God.” In the tribulation there are TWO CHOICES, Christ or satan and for eternity there are TWO
    CHOICES, Heaven or Hell. Is it supportable or rational to pretend there are more than two choices for any government today? Whose lie is that? The devil is identified as “The father of lies” in the Bible. (Gospel of John, 8:44) Who do you think originated the lie of separation of church and state? Who do you think originated the lie of atheism?

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