[Much Preceeds this]
Here Mr. Fister mistakes Constitutional and military regulation for persecution. Religious Proselytizing is regulated by the US Constitution Amendment One, UCMJ Articles: 92, 88, 121, 133, 134 and CENTCOM General Order 1 A, Part 2, Section J, relating to theaters of war. In addition, the Military Entrance Processing Command has issued new regulations to prevent religious proselytizing of recruits at its Military Entrance Processing Stations. The United States Supreme Court has ruled:
Impermissible governmental endorsement of religion occurs whenever a public official — such as a military officer — takes any action that “‘conveys" or attempts to convey a message that religion or a particular religion is favored or preferred.” (quoting Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 38, 70 (1985).
Reduced to 5 simplest terms, the Supreme Court has held that the Establishment Clause prohibits any official action that promotes religion generally or shows favoritism toward any particular faith. Government should not prefer one religion to another, or religion to "non-religion.” Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 604. Government or its representatives may not demonstrate a preference for one particular sect or creed (including a preference for Christianity over other religions).”); Larson v. Valente, 456 U.S. 228, 244 (1982)
“The clearest command of the Establishment Clause is that one religious denomination cannot be officially preferred over another.”
Furthermore, limits on proselytizing by military chaplains and superior officers were clearly spelled out by a federal appeals court over twenty years ago. "The primary function of the military chaplain is to engage in activities designed to meet the religious needs of a pluralistic military community," the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in 1985, in Katcoff v Marsh. Army chaplains were hired to serve military personnel "who wish to use them," the Court observed; they are not authorized "to proselytize soldiers or their families." Proselytizing by chaplains or the officer corps is a discriminatory, unconstitutional endorsement of religion that results in the religious harassment of our military personnel.
It is imperative that Christian proselytizing be contained and restricted to willing participants without the specter of command influence and only to the extent allowed by military regulation .
Based on the above military regulation and civil law, I submit that based on their current modus operandi, unregulated or unmonitored Christian evangelical organizations, churches and evangelical protestant military Chaplains allowed to operate by means of dogmatic, coercive and overt Christian proselytizing is unconstitutional.
Richard Baker
Colorado Springs Chapter President
Military Religious Freedom Foundation
