Soldiers wage wars. It's part of their job. That's why they wear helmets and body armor. Why they carry assault rifles and plastic explosives. If anyone is qualified to engage in the biggest war of all, it should be them.
The biggest war is the one mankind has been waging for the last several thousand years: the war between truth and falsehood. And the Pentagon has decided American soldiers shouldn't be allowed to fight it anymore.
Denying troops the right to share their faith is a terrible mistake on two counts.
One: by outlawing expressions of faith, America is telling its soldiers to leave their values and convictions at home with their dog, spouse and kids. Empty hearts and loaded guns are a bad mix.
Two: outlawing discussion is one way of curbing conflict. But it's the worst way.
First of all, because it doesn't work for very long. Every totalitarian regime has found that out. The hard way. Men and women can't live long without values, without sharing who we are and what we stand for.
Second, because it's the coward's way out. Sometimes, the ones most interested in curbing free speech and discussion are those who have the flimsiest ideas. They're afraid of measuring them up against others. So they substitute ideas and values with the brute force of court-martials or non-judicial punishments.
Drafted at the request of attorney Wilson Weinstein's Military Religious Freedom Foundation, the Air Force's new norms consider proselytism akin to sexual abuse. In Weinstein's own words, both are "destructive of the bonds that keep soldiers together."
But the Military Religious Freedom Foundation isn't truly about religious freedom. For Weinstein, the very topic of religion is taboo. He's against anybody who says anything about religion, be they believers or atheists. If Jesus said that the truth will set us free, Weinstein wouldn't let soldiers to offer their own opinions on where to find that truth.
When the new rules go into effect, the Air Force will no longer trust its soldiers to manage different religions, values and world-views. Reality check: soldiers are used to staying cool under pressure. What's more, soldiers need religion and values. Training might keep them cool and functioning under enemy fire, but it can't provide answers when their world is shattered by the death of a close friend or a life-threatening injury.
In those dark moments, they need a beacon in the night. They need answers. And they need to know that their companions, officers and chaplains will give them the best they've got: their own faith.
Outlawing that honesty is like walling up the windows and cutting the power to keep people from arguing about whose light is the brightest. The only result is darkness. And in the dark, even the best of us fly blind.
For two very different takes on the same story: Sally Quinn's pro-Weinstein article at the Washington Post.
Rear Admiral William Lee on religious freedom at Fox News.
The biggest war is the one mankind has been waging for the last several thousand years: the war between truth and falsehood. And the Pentagon has decided American soldiers shouldn't be allowed to fight it anymore.
Denying troops the right to share their faith is a terrible mistake on two counts.
One: by outlawing expressions of faith, America is telling its soldiers to leave their values and convictions at home with their dog, spouse and kids. Empty hearts and loaded guns are a bad mix.
Two: outlawing discussion is one way of curbing conflict. But it's the worst way.
First of all, because it doesn't work for very long. Every totalitarian regime has found that out. The hard way. Men and women can't live long without values, without sharing who we are and what we stand for.
Second, because it's the coward's way out. Sometimes, the ones most interested in curbing free speech and discussion are those who have the flimsiest ideas. They're afraid of measuring them up against others. So they substitute ideas and values with the brute force of court-martials or non-judicial punishments.
Drafted at the request of attorney Wilson Weinstein's Military Religious Freedom Foundation, the Air Force's new norms consider proselytism akin to sexual abuse. In Weinstein's own words, both are "destructive of the bonds that keep soldiers together."
But the Military Religious Freedom Foundation isn't truly about religious freedom. For Weinstein, the very topic of religion is taboo. He's against anybody who says anything about religion, be they believers or atheists. If Jesus said that the truth will set us free, Weinstein wouldn't let soldiers to offer their own opinions on where to find that truth.
When the new rules go into effect, the Air Force will no longer trust its soldiers to manage different religions, values and world-views. Reality check: soldiers are used to staying cool under pressure. What's more, soldiers need religion and values. Training might keep them cool and functioning under enemy fire, but it can't provide answers when their world is shattered by the death of a close friend or a life-threatening injury.
In those dark moments, they need a beacon in the night. They need answers. And they need to know that their companions, officers and chaplains will give them the best they've got: their own faith.
Outlawing that honesty is like walling up the windows and cutting the power to keep people from arguing about whose light is the brightest. The only result is darkness. And in the dark, even the best of us fly blind.
For two very different takes on the same story: Sally Quinn's pro-Weinstein article at the Washington Post.
Rear Admiral William Lee on religious freedom at Fox News.
My son is in the Air Force. Having religious faith goes beyond helping soldiers through times of trial and crisis. It goes to the heart of the moral decisions they are asked to make every day when facing enemies - whether they are encountering them face-to-face or through the scope of a remote-controlled drone. Religious faith encourages people to value the lives of others - and how important is that to people who have to decide who lives and who dies?
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