Letter from Donald Rogers

Dear Sir,

I was born in (location withheld) and have been a life-long resident of the southern tier, finger lakes region of the empire state. I am sixty-seven, retired and am blessed with fairly good health. I am familiar with the changes within my community, nation and planet over the years. The radical changes in the last eight years have convinced me that good government requires more than merely voting. Democracy demands citizen participation. To be informed and active under our hereditary rights: The U.S. Constitution: the words we live by; A living bill of rights that include: My first Amendment rights – freedom of honest speech, personal association; peaceful assembly and petition on Constitutional issues, freedom of the press, and freedom of and from religion. My right to equal protection under the law – protection against unlawful discrimination. I write to you today concerning the Religious Freedom and the rights of military soldiers. Enclosed is a letter I wrote to the DOD in response to the film mentioned in it. I have not heard back from the commander and would like to know what rules of conduct are required for military personnel. Particularly those refering to proseltyzing within the ranks.

Christian Chaplains need to be segregated from other troops because they have evangelizing as part of the Christian faith. Their very presence is a threat to the inalienable rights of each troopers right to personal privacy of conscience. Chaplains are there to serve the troops and ensure their First Amendment rights, not the other way around. Chaplains simply do not have the right to push their beliefs on the troops, nor should a chaplain encourage his or her congregants to push their beliefs on their fellow troops.

While I agree that posters, newsletter articles, and other speech proselytizing one’s own religion are protected by the Free Speech Clause, I want to caution against a seeming compromise that some, such as the EEOC, have suggested: the notion that speech praising one’s own religion is constitutionally protected, but that speech disparaging the religion or beliefs of others or ridiculing an employees’ religious beliefs may be suppressed by harassment law. Unless the Chaplains can conform to moral and civil rules of conduct they must be restricted away from general troop acccess. Such a pledge should include the following.

“Nontheistic service members, including atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers, and those holding other nontheistic designations, serve honorably within our nation’s military. I pledge to support nontheistic service members as strongly as I support theistic service members. I further pledge not to use my position to influence individuals or the chain of command to adopt the principles or practices of my own personal religion. I concur that these statements are minimum standards of conduct to which all service members, especially chaplains and commanders, should adhere.”

Sincerely, (name withheld)

Commander Bill Carr
Deputy Under Secretary for Military Personnel Policy
(address omitted)

Dear Secretary Carr,
I was born in (location withheld) and have been a life-long resident and tax-payer of the southern tier, finger lakes region of the empire state. I am sixty-seven, retired and despite my restrictions am blessed with fairly good health. I am familiar with the changes within my community, nation and planet over the years. The radical changes in the last nine years have convinced me that good government requires more than merely voting. Democracy demands citizen participation. To be informed and active under our heriditary rights: The U.S. Constitution, the words we live by and a living bill of rights. Of particular interest to me is my first amendment rights.

I write to you today concerning the Religious Freedom and the rights of military soldiers. In an interview on CNN, AC 360 with Correspondent Randi kaye, July 8, 2008, in reference to a lawsuit against the federal government by Army Specialist Jeremy Hall, You stated that religious discrimination is against military policy. As the Commander in charge of military personnel policy at the Pentagon, you said, “if an atheist chose to follow their convictions, absolutely, that’s acceptable. And that’s a point of religious accommodation in department policy, “one may hold whatever faith, or may hold no faith.”

That may be against military policy but it certainly is not military practice. Besides the current AP news report, that a few American soldiers were punished for not attending a Christian concert, which I’m sure you are investigating, I would like to know if you are investigating any other acts of proseltyzing by military personnel. Here are two with evidence of blatant offensive behavior. This violation involves the case of Staff Sgt. Richlin Chan, who has served his country in Iraq. I’m confident that you are aware of this situation also. The coercin and intimidation by fellow soldiers to convert to christianity was so threatening he had to be transfered. Are our soldiers fighting and dieing for freedom of religion, or only freedom to be a christian?

The worst one was a documentay I recently watched on PBS televison. The name of it was “Carrier” It was about life aboard the aircraft carrier the USS Nimitz. I was shocked and appalled at the proseltyzing, both overt and subtle, by Christian lay leaders, supported by the Chaplains office and ignored by the Commanders. They even use the ships public address system to convey religious messages of the Christian faith. It reminded me of how the Nazis’ disseminated their propoganda to a captive audience. Apologizing, transfer or nominal punishment may solve a specific violation. However, this is an insidious, systemic problem that needs to be addressed. We can do better and must do better for our troops and for our country. Since you took an affirmation or oath to uphold the Constitution I trust you will take action to protect the conscious of our soldiers who are not christians, and condemn religious discrimination.

Sincerely,
(name withheld)