Proselytizing in the military

Little common ground found in religion hearing: House members debate 'proselytizing' at Air Force Academy by Lisa Burgess Stars and Stripes Mideast edition 06/30/05.

The air was electric with tension during a House hearing Tuesday into the religious climate at the U.S. Air Force Academy, with some lawmakers who described themselves as Christians saying the Air Force's focus on the issue is a "sign of intolerance of Christianity."

"It gets my dander up," said Rep. Michael Conaway, a Texas Republican who participated in the House Armed Services Committee's military personnel subcommittee hearing. "Jesus Christ is my personal lord and savior … and I'm sensing a very biased [attitude] toward Christians and the free expression of my faith."

"I've been struck throughout this debate ... by the very vast perception divide that exists," said Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y. "Isn't there a big difference between saying, 'No you can't have a prayer,' or 'Yes, you can have a prayer,' and saying, 'Those of you who don't want to pray will burn in the fires of hell?' Aren't there clear lines of common sense?"

The article doesn't necessarily make clear that the issue at dispute is not private conversations between cadets or teachers. The issue is cadets being required or inappropriately pressured into attending religious events and teachers abusing their positions to pressure cadets to convert to their particular brand of Christianity or to participate in religious rituals like praying before tests.

Notice Conaway's comment in particular. He insists that complaints about such inappropriate pressure is an expression of bias "toward Christians and the free expression of faith." This posture of posing as persecuted Christians, in a country where 80% or so of the people are at least nominally Christians, is ridiculous in more ways than one.

In fact, the Christian Right has for years seen the US military as a special target for proselytizing. And we should also be clear that this also involves proselytizing other Christians to convert to a different brand or denomination of Christianity. And, again, it is not a matter of preventing cadets or soldiers from trying to convince their classmates or fellow soldiers of their own religious ideas. It is a matter of making sure people do not abuse their official positions to do so.

I would note here that in most private businesses, certainly in corporations, asking a group to pray before a business meeting would be considered inappropriate in the extreme. And if you happen to tick off clients or potential clients by doing so, it can actually damage the company's business.

The same should be true in the military services. Teachers and officers should not be misusing their positions to press people to change their religious views or to perform religious rituals during regular business or classroom activities.

Tags: christian right, christianism, militarism

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