Protect religious rights, congressmen urge Defense Department

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Two congressmen are asking Defense Secretary Mark Esper to explain why the Defense Department is "failing to protect the religious liberty of our service members."

"Given the years-long record of the DoD's actions in contradiction with federal law protecting religious liberty, it is clear to us that the DoD has either willfully ignored or is unaware of its obligations to protect the religious freedom of its service members," Reps. Doug Collins, R-Ga., and Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., wrote to Esper.

The military repeatedly has given in to outside groups that complain about its chaplaincy program, allowing Bibles and services on bases, and much more.

In the letter, the Congress members cited a recent ban on Navy sailors attending off-base church services indoors while allowing other types of social gatherings of any size.

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"While we can all agree that the health and safety of our troops is critical during the ongoing public health crisis, singling out religious gatherings while allowing other activities and unrestricted social gatherings to take place is unlawful. To enforce that prohibition under threat of court-martial is unconscionable and provides yet another example of why change is sorely needed at the Pentagon," the members said.

In early May, the two representatives and other Congress members wrote to Esper asking him to protect religious liberty in response to the military succumbing to the "baseless demands" of outside organizations that oppose faith.

The Army's response was to stand by its decisions.

Now the two members say they're "discouraged" to learn of that response.

"The mixed messages we have received from DoD officials over the past month and the Navy’s recent order that seeks to keep service members and chaplains from worshiping indoors while continuing to allow other gatherings signals a pervasive and dangerous misapplication and misunderstanding of federal law," they wrote.

"We continue to witness failures to correctly apply federal law protecting the religious freedom of our brave men and women in the military. In fact, in the Army's letter postmarked June 11, 2020, we were told that the Army has 'developed and implemented comprehensive policies and training concerning religious freedom.' If that is true, why do we continue to hear from members of the military legal and chaplain communities that no such training exists? " they asked.

The military's top brass, they said, "must prioritize protecting the rights and freedoms of service members, just as those service members fight to protect those freedoms for all Americans."

The members asked for detailed explanations of the "comprehensive policies and training concerning religious freedom" mentioned by the Army, how and when such guidance is circulated, how the decisions were made in the cases outlined in their May 14 letter, and the Navy’s recent unlawful order.