Saluting Intolerance?: White House May Side With Sectarianism In Military
Religious Right activists have apparently convinced President George W. Bush to intervene on the side of sectarianism in the battle over religion in the U.S. military.
The Washington Times reported yesterday that Bush will “pressure the Pentagon” on rules pertaining to religion in the armed services. According to the newspaper, the administration had struck a deal with a congressman who has spent several months loudly claiming that evangelical Christian chaplains in the military are treated unfairly.
U.S. Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), a strident Religious Right ally, has written Bush and encouraged many of his colleagues to do the same, arguing that an executive order is needed to ensure that Christian military chaplains can “use the name of Jesus when praying.”
The congressman’s complaints are disingenuous and intended to impede the military’s efforts to address the real circumstances of rampant heavy-handed evangelizing by top military officials and staff, especially at the Air Force Academy.
Jones became especially exercised over religion in the military after complaints came to surface of abusive proselytizing by Air Force superiors at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Last year, Americans United for Separation of Church and State issued a detailed report revealing that faculty and staff had too often pushed their evangelical Christian beliefs on their subordinates.
Following AU’s report, the Air Force issued guidelines that included restrictions on sectarian prayer at mandatory events, pushing religion on subordinates and proselytizing by chaplains.
The Air Force ban on officially sanctioned proselytizing, however, quickly came under fire. Shortly after the proposed guidelines were made public, Brig. Gen. Cecil R. Richardson told the The New York Times last summer that, “We will not proselytize, but we reserve the right to evangelize the unchurched.”
Mikey Weinstein, an Americans United member and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, has filed a lawsuit challenging the policy regarding the chaplains. Weinstein, an Academy graduate who has a son attending the military school now, was also instrumental in the Americans United report on pervasive proselytizing at the Air Force Academy.
The guidelines were far from perfect, but they were too much for Rep. Jones and his Religious Right cronies. He has waged an intensive campaign to protect overzealous chaplains in the armed services. In October, Jones urged Bush to issue an executive order saying that military chaplains can pray to Jesus.
According to The Washington Times, the White House domestic policy adviser, Claude Allen, has told Jones that the president would talk with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld about the congressman’s concerns. The article said Jones was “satisfied” with the White House’s promise.
The Bush administration appears ready yet again to bend to its Religious Right base, even though the truth is that military chaplains are not being muzzled because of their beliefs. The White House’s subservience to that narrow base undercuts the moderate efforts Air Force officials have taken to ensure that all military personnel are treated with respect and dignity, not just those subscribing to evangelical Christianity.