Military Separation of Church and State

Dear Mikey,

So I see you bullied some young cadet from posting a Bible verse on a white board that was meant for both official and personal messages. You argue you don’t mind if he has that in his room, but it is not ok to post it outside his room.

If that is the case, I am sure you are filing suit with the Department of Defense for allowing Indian Sikhs from wearing their religious headgear throughout our military bases. Can I get an update on how that case is progressing?

(name withheld)

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Good Day, (name withheld) —

Thanks for writing to MRFF to express your concerns. Mikey Weinstein has asked me to offer a reply. I’m a Christian, USAF Academy graduate and former AF officer, in addition to being a supporter of MRFF, so I think that I may be able to provide a pretty good ‘insider’ perspective about the whiteboard incident. I don’t know if you have a military background, so if you do then please forgive me for reviewing things you may already know. But if you were not in the military, then this information might be helpful.

Upon joining the military, each of us who signs up to serve also agrees to surrender some amount of the unfettered freedom of expression to which we were entitled as civilians. This concept of placing limits or restrictions on personal expression by military members, particularly leaders, is far from a new idea. In particular, one area where military leaders are obligated to balance their personal expression with what is required of them under military rules is religious expression.

There is no limitation whatsoever on what any military leader or member can believe — that aspect of a service member’s religious freedom is sacrosanct. Like you, I will fight to the bitter end to defend every military member’s right to hold any belief he desires, without interference from his military organization other government influence. At the same time, the expression of that belief can be subject to limitations by the military with regard to time, place and manner. In the case of an Air Force leader (such as the cadet in the whiteboard incident), the individual has an obligation to comply with Air Force Instruction 1-1, which requires all leaders to avoid “the actual or apparent use of their position to promote their personal religious beliefs to their subordinates.”

As you rightly noted in your email, the cadet posted the Scripture verse outside of his room… in this case, in the squadron hallway on a board next to his name and position. While I’m sure his intentions were good, doing it that way changed the nature of the statement. The issue is not about the content of the message — consider that a similar act by, say, an atheist cadet who might post “There is no God” on a board outside his room would be violating the same rule. The cadet dorms at USAFA are a working squadron duty area, so those quarters differ greatly from the dorms of a civilian college. The other important difference from a civilian college is that cadets are not just “neighbors” — they have real military reporting relationships to one another. As such, there are a number of limitations on what cadets can and cannot do, and those limits are not just related to religious expression. Having spent four years in that pressure-cooker myself, I can tell you that there is very little ‘freedom’ of any kind.

As to your other observation about Indian Sikhs wearing religious headgear, I’d ask you to give some thoughtful consideration to a few things. First, I hope we can agree that it’s wonderful that Americans of many faiths (or no faith at all) desire to serve in the military. Personally, I think that the strength of America is found in its diversity. When our military reflects the broader society, it is a good thing, too. Second, there is a fundamental difference between an individual making an impromptu statement and an individual who is complying with specific requirements of his faith. From my perspective, the simple logic that points out the difference in these two scenarios is this —- in the first case, a limit on whiteboard expression does not prevent the individual from observing the tenets of his faith. In the second case, a limit on religious attire would indeed prevent the individual from observing the tenets of his faith.

Your comment about Sikh’s suggests that you believe MRFF is an ‘anti-Christian’ organization. The truth is quite different — the vast majority of supporters and clients are Christian. And if you’ve followed other recent USAFA news, you heard that Mikey Weinstein and MRFF made another challenge to USAFA after receiving requests for assistance from some cadets and permanent party — and in this case, the group that MRFF challenged was a Free-Thinkers (atheist) club that was doing some of its own ‘proselytizing’ in a manner that was inappropriate. MRFF is not anti-religion, it is pro-Constitution.

Thanks again for writing.

Peace,

Mike Challman

Christian

USAFA grad (’85)

AF veteran

MRFF supporter

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Dear Mr. Challman,

I appreciate your response and would like to thank you first and foremost for your service to our country. I understand your position; however, I must respectfully disagree with it. I agree that no one, including our military personnel should be “forcing” their religion on someone, but simply posting a Bible verse, wearing a cross or setting up a Nativity scene on a base to celebrate Christmas is hardly forcing their religion on some one. It is recognizing the majority of members serving in our armed services who are Christian, just as I am not offended by a display of the Menorah.

I would like to address your assertion that a Sikh wearing religious headwear is just following the tenet of his faith. That is true. However, as a fellow Christian isn’t spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the entire world a tenet of our faith? I don’t believe God cares about the U.S. Constitution, Air Force Instruction 1-1 or any other rule or regulation. His law is higher than our law and when forced to choice between the two a Christian must always follow God’s law. I believe that is exactly what happened when the other Air Force Cadets supported this young man by placing scripture on their own white boards.

Since the founding of our country our military leaders and servicemen have leaned on God for protection, strength and wise counsel. Reliance on this counsel has set the moral compass for our nation’s military leaders. One doesn’t need to look far to see what happens when God is taken away from a nation’s military-Look at Nazi Germany, Communist Russia, China and North Korea. They can get their military members to commit horrific atrocities because absent God they have no moral fiber. Our military and our nation is special because of God. Like the verse below says, Blessed in the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.

Let’s hope God continues to bless our nation; however, with the direction our country is going in, we deserve to be punished severely.

Regards,
(name withheld)

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!-Psalms 33:12

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Good evening, (name withheld) –

Thanks for taking the time to write back. There are some items in your email to which I’d like to respond. I appreciate your position and I understand it — but I’m sure it’s no surprise to you that I, too, disagree with much of it (although not all).

First thing I’d ask you to reconsider is the qualification with which you describe inappropriate proselytizing. You propose a standard based on whether someone is “forcing their religion” on another. I see two problems with that. First, I’m not sure how you would define “force.” In the military, the superior-subordinate hierarchy gives leaders an enormous amount of control over their subordinates. In certain circumstances, they can literally require a subordinate to risk his life. Even at USAFA, where that extreme circumstance is still a few years away, a cadet leader has tremendous power over underclassmen. An action that may seem relatively benign to someone outside of that environment can actually be very difficult for someone who is doing his best to survive in a pressure cooker. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the main rule that governs the conduct of AF leaders, including cadets, doesn’t say the leader should not apply “force” — rather, the leader is required to avoid “the actual or apparent use of their position to promote their personal religious beliefs to their subordinates.” The key word is “promote” – certainly a more restrictive requirement than merely avoiding some type of “force.”

The second thing on which I want to comment is your observation that “the majority of members who serve in our armed forces… are Christian.” While this is true, I’d ask you to give some more consideration as to whether that should matter. Our military is not a Christian force, it is a secular organization. And no matter whose demographic stats you examine — DEOMI, Pew or a variety of others — they all agree that 25% or more of US armed forces personnel are not Christian. One DoD study from just a few years ago identified nearly 400,000 non-Christian soldiers, sailors and airmen. A minority? Sure, but does that matter? These 400,000 men and women have volunteered to sacrifice tremendously, possibly sacrifice everything, to serve our country. They are entitled to live and work in an environment that treats their beliefs (including no belief at all in many cases) as equal to the beliefs of the Christian majority.

Third, as to your concerns about the rights of a Sikh versus the rights of a Christian. Even a Sikh does not have completely unrestricted rights to wear a turban or untrimmed hair/beard in all places and all times. His religious garb and grooming is not allowed in situations where it will impact the accomplishment of the mission and/or his safety or that of others. With regard to a Christian’s right to share his faith, I’d point out that there are many ways to evangelize. I’ve been a Christian my whole life and I often tell people during these discussions that I evangelized every day when I was in the AF, and I evangelize every day now as a corporate executive. I share my faith by trying to be a servant leader, by dealing with people honestly, by treating people with dignity and charity, and by trying to actively live the tenets of my faith in all of my actions. But I’ve never advertised or announced my religious beliefs to my team. Why? It’s simple – because religious conversion is not the mission of my company, and it’s not the mission of the USAF.

(Just a couple more items — I do try not to be too verbose, although I rarely succeed……)

In your email you do say two things that concern me greatly. You say, “I don’t believe God cares about the U.S. Constitution, Air Force Instruction 1-1 or any other rule or regulation. His law is higher than our law and when forced to choice between the two a Christian must always follow God’s law.” On the contrary, I believe as a Christian that one of our duties is to obey civil laws and authorities. This is especially true for Christians in the military, where there are many rules, regulations and laws which must be obeyed. I don’t believe that it pains God when a Christian military leader keeps his obligation as to the time, place and manner for explicitly expressing his religious beliefs. After all, the purpose of the rule is to protect the rights of subordinates, who are also God’s creation.

The other thing you say that alarmed me is, “absent God they have no moral fiber.” I know you are speaking specifically of Nazi’s and Communists – but I’d suggest that, in those cases, it is their Nazism or Communism that leads to atrocities and not their position on God. There are over 40,000 US military members in active service today who do not believe in God. I hope you are not suggesting that they lack moral fiber. I have worked with people of many faiths, and people of no religious faith, both in the military and in corporate America. I have seen tremendous moral fiber, impressive courage, and unbelievable sacrifice. Moral fiber is not the exclusive domain of Christians or any people of faith.

Finally, I’ll close by touching on something you said with which I agree. You said, “Since the founding of our country our military leaders and servicemen have leaned on God for protection, strength and wise counsel.” I agree, many (though not all) of our military leaders and service members throughout history and today have looked to God for all of the things you mention plus emotional support, guidance, comfort, and many other things. I agree that it’s wonderful that we live in a country where every military leader has the right to believe whatever he wishes, and to worship God if he wishes.

But it’s even more wonderful that it’s also a country where every military member has the right not to turn to God if that is not his belief, and he knows that he can still serve proudly, still have a meaningful and fruitful career, and still live and work in an environment where he is not exposed to any unwanted proselytizing. At least, that’s the way it is supposed to be.

Peace,

Mike Challman