The Pentagon has since put out a statement retracting the earlier statement about proselytization, but I feel that this article accurately describes the absurdity of making the proclamation of God's truth illegal in the United States.
I awoke to the news on May 1st that if I continue to practice my religion in the military I could potentially be court-martialed for doing so. (read about it here) The news that pentagon officials are considering banning military member, including chaplains, from exercising their right to free practice of religion and free speech by banning so called “proselytization” has shaken me to my very core. The very fact that an American citizen might be barred from practicing a peaceful part of their religion is so abhorrent and anti-constitutional that it causes me to wonder just how far our country will fall into absolute idiocy before it gets a clue.
I awoke to the news on May 1st that if I continue to practice my religion in the military I could potentially be court-martialed for doing so. (read about it here) The news that pentagon officials are considering banning military member, including chaplains, from exercising their right to free practice of religion and free speech by banning so called “proselytization” has shaken me to my very core. The very fact that an American citizen might be barred from practicing a peaceful part of their religion is so abhorrent and anti-constitutional that it causes me to wonder just how far our country will fall into absolute idiocy before it gets a clue.
The most
famous settlers of the United States were the pilgrims; these religious
refugees were fleeing persecution from the government-sanctioned Church of
England. Theses persecutions included fines for not attending Government
approved churches, imprisonment for leading alternative church services and in
some cases execution for the leaders of illegal churches.
When the
founders of the United States wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to
guarantee the freedom of every American Citizen they made sure to start out the
Bill of Rights with the words “Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. The persecution of those who disagreed with
the government sanctions including the government sanctioned church was
something that these men knew a lot about, they had even seen the destruction
that a governmental church can wreak on liberty when it happened in North
America. Including the persecution by the very churches that had fled England’s
persecution, which had led to many states passing laws against such persecution
apart from the Bill of Rights. The founders of our country were well aware of
the problem of elevating one system of beliefs above that of another and how
quickly it can lead to tyranny.
It’s sad to see this fundamental
part of our country’s history become so easily forgotten or purposely cast
aside. I have no doubt in my mind that these new proposals banning “proselytization”
are elevating one system of belief over another. The secular humanistic
viewpoint has become the normative viewpoint for the government and this
possible ban is exerting the authority of that system of beliefs above the
beliefs of other religions.
As a Protestant Evangelical
Christian it is my solemn conviction that there is no salvation apart from
Jesus Christ, and that it is in him alone that man can be saved from their
sins. Because of my strong convictions it has been and will be my desire to
tell others about how God has offered forgiveness in Jesus Christ. I have
served in the military for 5 years, had these rules been in place during those
five years I could have been charged with a crime dozens if not close to a
hundred times. Within the past three months had these rules been in place I
could have been charged with at least six different instances of
proselytization.
This ban is a ban on the free
exercise of my religion. In the New Testament Jesus himself commanded his
disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations…” and he also said
“repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His [Jesus] name to all
nations…” It is my duty to my God to carry out his commands including the
command to proclaim the good news of forgiveness of sins to the entire world.
While serving in the military I have seen the need for people within the
military to hear this good news, and because of this need I had been planning
on staying in the military in order to carry out this tenet of my faith and
showing my love for my fellow military members. With this new anti-legislation
I am effectively made a criminal and the free practice of my religion is made
into a criminal act violating the very principles on which this country was
founded. I am put in a position in which I have to choose between violating the
laws of my country and violating the laws of God.
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