The Creeping Christianization of America’s Military

Posted by Enrique on 10.02.2008

Forcing atheists out of foxholes



Christian conservatives often complain that the secular left is trying to remove God from the public square. Of course, this is true, and with good reason – God has no place in the public square. A person's relationship with God is a private matter, and government has no business endorsing any religion, or even acknowledging God. In many ways, God is like a government – He likes to boss us around, put limits on our free will, and then tell us everything He does is for our own good. God 's involvement in government institutions can only cause problems.

One patriotic American fighting the good fight against God is U.S. Army Specialist Dustin Chalker, an Iraq veteran and atheist. Last week, Spc. Chalker filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the U.S. Department of Defense unconstitutionally endorses Christianity. For our story this week, let's examine God's influence over the U.S. military, and whether or not His presence creates a discriminatory environment for non-observant servicemen/women.

The story so far…

A few years ago, God's role in the military came under scrutiny when an appellate court banned dinner prayers at the Virginia Military Institute. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant an appeal, and ever since then the ACLU and others have used the VMI decision to challenge mandatory religious observances within the armed forces. For his part, Spc. Chalker enlisted the help of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation in filing his suit. The MRFF's mission statement reads in part, "The full exercise of religious freedom includes the right not to subscribe to any particular religion or religious philosophy. The so-called ‘unchurched' cede no Constitutional rights by want of their separation from organized faith." They also have some nifty Cafepress swag.

You can read the Chalker/MRFF complaint in PDF format here. Among other things, Chalker claims that the military's suicide prevention policy boils down to handing out copies of Rick Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life" to depressed soldiers. Chalker describes a mandatory-attendance commander's call that featured a PowerPoint presentation about "A New Approach to Suicide Prevention," the gist of which is to force religion on vulnerable people in their darkest hour. This "new approach" also involved some not-so-subtle creationism boosting:

Another slide titled "Contrasting Theories of Hope, Ultimate Theories Explaining Our Existence," has two columns, the first titled "Chance," and the second "Design," comparing Charles Darwin, creationism, and religion are also part of a chart comparing the former Soviet Union to the United States, concluding that "Naturalism/Evolution/Atheism" leads to people being "in bondage" and having "no hope," while theism leads to "People of Freedom" and "People of hope/destiny." After several more slides like these, the presentation continues with a slide titled "Christian's Message," and a slide with an image of a man looking upwards with his hands outstretched and the caption "Please open up both of your hands to receive this powerful tool."

That "people of freedom" line is cute. Nothing reminds me of freedom like the idea of an unelected, all-powerful tyrant who can read my mind and is constantly judging me. Apparently this presentation has been e-mailed to several thousand servicemen, who I'm sure are feeling marginally less depressed than they had been. Chalker also alleges that the Campus Crusade for Christ has special, preferential status within the military. The CCC operates on many U.S. military bases, and is permitted to proselytize with impunity. It may not surprise you to know that CCC considers new recruits to be particularly vulnerable to coercion receptive to the Word:

CCC states the following reason for targeting of basic training installations: "Young recruits are under great pressure as they enter the military at their initial training gateways. The demands of drill instructions push recruits and cadets to the edge. This is why they are most open to the 'good news.' We target specific locations, like Lackland AFB and Fort Jackson, where large numbers of military members transition early in their career. These sites are excellent locations to pursue our strategic goals."

I suppose if I were in the business of enlisting cult members, I'd target young people under tremendous stress and far away from home.

Social conservatives usually wonder why all the fuss about public prayers – if they're brief and voluntary, then what's the harm? They don't understand that consistent endorsements of religious behavior (even if they are indirect) create an environment in which activist Christians develop a sense of entitlement. And religious people with a sense of entitlement can behave unpredictably. In a similar lawsuit filed last year, U.S. Army Spc. Jeremy Hall claimed he faced discrimination and intimidation when his lack of faith became public knowledge:

Hall's problems started in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner in 2006, during his second tour. One of the men at Hall's table asked that they pray together. The soldiers joined hands — except for Hall. Most didn't know he was an atheist until that moment…

[Hall] says he declined to pray as respectfully as he could. When word got around the tables that he wouldn't pray, he was confronted by a senior-ranking staff sergeant, who demanded to know why. Hall explained that he was an atheist — then explained what an atheist was when the sergeant didn't understand.

"He basically told me to get the hell out of there and that I couldn't eat with them," Hall says. "I just sat there quietly and finished it. A Mormon girl actually stood up for me and said they shouldn't do that, because it's not just me. They give Mormons shit, too."

While deployed to Iraq, Hall tried to hold a meeting of fellow non-theists on his base, but it was interrupted by a senior officer who threatened to prevent Hall from re-enlisting. In December, Hall was told he would be denied a promotion, because he couldn't lead troops effectively if he wasn't willing to pray with them. He's faced repeated harassment, and earlier this month he received a death threat. If Hall's allegations are true, it would indicate that activist Christians think the U.S. military is an extension of God's domain, and they are permitted to mistreat the unclean as they please.

Of course, Chalker and Hall's allegations may not be true, or highly exaggerated. And one could certainly argue that allowing evangelical Christian groups to operate on military bases isn't the same as endorsing religion. However, we might not want to turn a blind eye to creeping sectarianism in our secular armed forces. The U.S. military already excludes patriotic Americans who happen to be homosexual; it can't afford to be hostile to patriotic Americans who happen to be non-Christian, non-practicing Christian, or atheist. Especially when both major presidential candidates say they intend to expand the war in Afghanistan-Pakistan.