Christian Group Films Promotional Video Inside Pentagon With Uniformed Officers
A military watchdog group is asking the Defense Department to investigate whether seven Army and Air Force officers violated regulations by appearing in uniform in a promotional video for an evangelical Christian organization. In the video, much of which was filmed inside the Pentagon, four generals and three colonels praise the Christian Embassy, a group that evangelizes among military leaders, politicians and diplomats in Washington. Some of the officers describe their efforts to spread their faith within the military.
As I’ve said many times before, I have no problem with people practicing the religion of their choice. If that’s what give their life a degree of richness and fulfillment, then more power to them. If following the teachings of Jesus Christ is what provides you with direction and purpose, that’s fantastic. If you’re an enlisted person or an officer in the US military, however, there’s just one thing you need to keep in mind:
You cannot, per DoD regulations, appear in “speeches, interviews, picket lines, marches, rallies or any public demonstration…which may imply Service sanction of the cause for which the demonstration or activity is conducted.” Traditionally, that has referred undertaking any of the above-listed activities while in uniform. If a member of the US military wants to pursue this activities on his or her own time and in civilian attire, then they have every right as an American to do so…and no reasonable person would have a problem with that.
The problem here, and the reason for my anger and consternation, is that the officers in question are very senior officers who appear to be in direct violation of a strict and unquestioned DoD directive.
The 10-minute video is on the group’s Web site, Christianembassy.com. The organization was founded nearly 30 years ago by the late Bill Bright, who also founded Campus Crusade for Christ. The Christian Embassy Web site says the group holds prayer breakfasts each Wednesday in the Pentagon’s executive dining room and organizes small groups to help military leaders “bridge the gap between faith and work.”
Army Brig. Gen. Bob Casen refers in the video to the Christian Embassy’s special efforts to reach admirals and generals through Flag Fellowship groups. Whenever he sees another fellowship member, he says, “I immediately feel like I am being held accountable, because we are the aroma of Jesus Christ.”….
All the officers are identified in the video by their Defense Department positions, “yet the video failed to include any disclaimers indicating that the views expressed were not those of the Department of Defense….”
Again, the problem is not the private, personal pursuit and/or advancement of religious faith. The problem is that appearance that, by appearing in uniform, the inference is that Christianity is the “officially approved religion” of the US military. The US military is officially a secular organization charged with defending ALL Americans, regardless of faith. When senior officers are portrayed in uniform as endorsing their version of Christianity, that sends a very clear message that trickles down through the ranks. One has to look no further than the well-documented evangelizing and religious coercion occurring at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs to understand the effects that this can have.
When senior officers are seen as endorsing their religion, it implicitly creates the message that this is what needs to happen throughout the military. Given that the US military is an organization that lives and breathes conformity and obedience, it doesn’t take much to figure out that professing to be a committed Evangelical Christian can only aid one’s career. Conversely, lack of that faith can (and already has) adversely impact military careers.
Why is this even an issue, you ask? Well, check this out:
[Air Force Maj. Gen. Jack J. Catton Jr.] said yesterday that he does not remember whether he sought approval to appear in the video, which he said was made in 2005. “If someone asked me today to do it, I for sure would ask permission,” said the general, who sparked controversy this year by raising money from fellow officers for a congressional candidate.
Yeah, right; now that I’ve been busted, I would surely do things differently. What if your boss came to you, asking for money for a church or a political candidate- or asking how you were planning on voting? If the future of your career depended strongly on what your boss has to say in your performance reviews, you can bet that you might just be feeling you have no real option but to pony up (or vote as he or she expects). After all, to refuse might open you up to question of insufficient fealty. It’s wrong, and it shouldn’t happen, but it does…even in the US military, where a soldier’s career can quite literally hang on his direct superior’s opinion of him. As a former Army officer, I cannot express how offended I am that it’s even necessary to have this conversation.
In an officially secular organization, this sort of implied religious pressure to conform to the beliefs of the leadership cannot be allowed to stand. This is just plain wrong, and it needs to stop. NOW.
