My friend, historian and author Bill Federer, reminded me in his May 1 “American Minute” series that one of the greatest periods of persecution against Christians occurred in the third century AD under the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Following a series of battlefield losses to the Persians, his generals blamed the setbacks on Romans not worshipping their pagan gods. Consequently Diocletian launched a reign of terror on Christianity, starting with the military which he ordered to worship Roman gods. His order forced Christians underground or out of the army altogether.
Within a few years, Federer reminds us, Diocletian purged the military of Christians and surrounded himself with advisers known for their hostility to Christianity. Once Christians were out of the military, it was easier for Diocletian to use the military against the citizenry if they did not worship the Roman gods. In 303 AD, the Oracle Temple of Apollo at Didyma urged Diocletian to launch an empire-wide persecution of Christians. What resulted was one of the most horrific eras of Christian persecution the world has ever seen. From Rome to Europe and North Africa, Diocletian’s now thoroughly pagan military raided Christian homes province by province. They arrested church leaders, burned Scriptures, destroyed churches and murdered thousands of innocents, many by cutting out their tongues and boiling them alive. Others were decapitated.
Federer’s reminder seems eerily real amid news that American military leaders have been meeting with an anti-Christian group that may threaten the freedom of religious expression throughout the U.S. armed forces. Several news outlets have reported in recent days that a group called the Military Religious Freedom Foundation is advising military leaders to court martial Christians who proselytize. The foundation’s leader, Mikey Weinstein, an atheist known for his hatred of Christians, bragged about an April 23 meeting with senior Defense Department officials and generals, in which he claims they discussed updating a U.S. Air Force guide on religious tolerance.
Weinstein has made no secret that his goal is a new policy for the military that would make any service member who proselytizes their faith face a court martial. “{W}e face incredibly well-funded gangs of fundamentalist Christian monsters who terrorize their fellow Americans by forcing their weaponized and twisted version of Christianity upon their helpless subordinates in our nation’s armed forces,” Weinstein told “The Huffington Post” prior to his Pentagon meeting. In a Washington Post article after the meeting, Weinstein called proselytizing “a national security threat. It is a version of being spiritually raped and you are being spiritually raped by fundamentalist Christian religious predators,” Weinstein told Fox News. He called on the Pentagon to punish such acts, referring to them as “sedition and treason.” The Post article reported Pentagon officials told Weinstein a booklet would be published in a few weeks that “will be a panacea to all religious issues.”
But what ensued from the military was anything but a panacea. When Weinstein’s meeting with military leaders became public, Christian media pressed for more information from the Pentagon. The result was a series of contradictory statements that did nothing to assuage the growing angst. First, there was a written statement from a military spokesman: “(R)eligious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense” and could be punishable by court martial. Later, the same spokesman said the military would deal with racism and sexual harassment the same way it would “religious harassment.” The person did not explain what was meant by “religious harassment.” Even though their presentation was buffoonery, its effect was disturbing. This much became clear: Military leaders intended to suppress freedom of speech and freedom of religion even if they were clueless on how to explain it, much less justify such unconstitutional action.
I would like to know why the Obama administration and military leaders are even talking to someone like Weinstein. The real threat to national security is not from Christians sharing their faith, but the misrepresentation of the Christian faith in an attempt to run Christians out of the military, about 40 percent of which are Christians. If Christians are going to face persecution, why would any volunteer (like I did) want to serve?
It seems there has been a growing hostility in the military toward Christianity the past two decades. Consider the following:
• The military now recognizes Wicca witches, on equal standing as Southern Baptist chaplains.
• Chaplains have felt threatened when praying “in Jesus’ name.”
• The Pentagon confirmed to Fox News that Christian evangelism is against regulations, but a Defense Department spokesman contradicted that late last week, saying evangelism is allowed, provided it is not disruptive.
• Reports that some chaplains have felt pressure from superiors regarding how they express their beliefs about homosexuality following the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
• About 65 Navy chaplains have lawsuits against the Navy with claims that they were passed over for promotion because their evangelical beliefs did not match those of the promotion board members.
• A 2008 study submitted to The School of Advanced Military Studies, United States Army Command and General Staff College, asserted that Christians who believe in Jesus’ Second Coming create circumstances that might be “problematic” for America’s military leaders. The study goes on to say that such Christians also create “potential vulnerabilities” that America’s enemies might “exploit.” The study never says what might be “problematic.”
I am not suggesting that we have leaders who are camouflaged Diocletians. But freedom-loving Americans ought to be concerned about the military leadership’s neurotic behavior on this issue. The words of Harvard philosopher George Santayana come to mind once again: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”