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The FundamentaList Wednesday, June 17, 2009 By: Sarah Posner Army Secretary Nominee Has Questionable Rep. John McHugh, a Republican from New York who is President Barack Obama's nominee to be secretary of the Army, is drawing scrutiny from church-state separation advocates the Secular Coalition for America and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation because of his congressional voting record on church-state separation issues. Opposition, or even indifference, to church-state separation is no minor matter in the military, given repeated revelations of violations of constitutional protections at the Pentagon, Air Force Academy, and in the field. McHugh's voting record in the House shows a disrespect for church-state separation generally, as well as a disregard for the ongoing infringement of service members' constitutional rights from aggressive proselytization in the armed forces. In 2005, in the wake of the exposure of egregious constitutional violations at the U.S. Air Force Academy, McHugh voted against an amendment to a bill that would have required the secretary of defense to report to Congress on progress made in addressing proselytization of cadets. The amendment would have made "clear that coercive and abusive religious proselytizing at the Air Force Academy is inconsistent with the professionalism and standards required by those who serve at the Academy." In 1999, McHugh voted for an amendment that, had it passed, would have allowed public schools and other government buildings to post the Ten Commandments. In the last two congressional sessions, he voted for another religious-right favorite, the "Pledge Protection Act," which would have removed federal courts' authority to hear constitutional challenges to the Pledge of Allegiance. This attempted power grab would have been an unprecedented infringement on the separation of powers. Had it passed, Congress would have rewritten the constitutional authority vested in the courts to hear "all Cases ... arising under this Constitution." McHugh also has co-sponsored efforts to amend the Constitution to "restore religious freedom." A classic religious-right effort to make infringement on freedoms appear to be an expansion of freedoms, the measure would have permitted people to pray and "recognize their religious beliefs, heritage, and traditions on public property, including schools." But civil-liberties critics argued that the amendment would have sanctioned an expansion of organized prayer at events like public school graduations, authorized "Christian nation" declarations, and required government funding of both secular and religious schools. Jason Torpy, president of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, told me in an e-mail, "John McHugh almost ensures a continuation of the stranglehold of dominionist Evangelical Christians on our military. His voting record speaks with a litany of special privileges for the Christian agenda. This decision adds to status-quo appointments [of] a SecDef [Secretary of Defense], DoD IG [Department of Defense Inspector General], and SecAF [Secretary of the Air Force]." SUPPORT MRFF The wall separating church and state
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