Troops at prayer
Now that the coming apocalypse over letting gay men and women serve openly has passed without a whimper, it’s time to move on to the next touchy topic: the role, or the lack of a role, that religion should play in the U.S. armed forces. In recent years, there has been a spate of incidents that might lead one to believe that the military embraces a pro-Christian culture.
In the latest issue of Parameters, the Army’s professional journal, David E. Fitzkee, a retired Army officer and lawyer, details the balance between God and country that military leaders should seek when commanding troops.
“There are characteristics of the military—including its rank structure and the need for good order and discipline essential to accomplishing the military’s crucial mission—that justify constraints on the religious speech of all military members beyond what would be constitutionally tolerable in the civilian context,” writes Fitzkee, who teaches law at the Air Force Academy.
His 10 rules on mixing faith and fighting are here; full article is here.