THE ADVOCATE (LOUISIANA) – Letter: Culture war hurts military

Selected Article Excerpt:

I am writing in response to the letter from Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, warning of a threat to the religious freedom of members of our armed forces. I couldn’t disagree more with Perkins and became troubled by the implications of what he was claiming. I worry about the morale and readiness of the troops if his organization continues to push a religious culture war into the ranks of our military forces.

All too often, the more-fevered religious cannot distinguish between religious persecution and being told no. This extreme overreaction to limits and rules does a grave disservice to those that have experienced persecution, past and present, while fighting for the freedom to follow their own faith.

Military members aren’t fighting to gain these rights — they already have them. Their purpose is to defend this nation from anyone trying to take them away. Having an organized political action committee target the military with such wild claims threatens to take these rights away from each member by creating an atmosphere of fear within each command. It will create division between the moderate and the more-fundamentalist members, and this, in turn, will threaten to weaken our entire military structure by using the courts to help push a religious agenda rather than allow the military command to carry out its primary duties — defending this nation against all enemies.

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