…former & current military officers said, the #military has historically adopted an unspoken rule: no #religion & no #politics.
“The point was, it didn’t matter, & it shouldn’t have mattered, who you worship, or whether you worship at all. What mattered was doing the job & being mindful that you represent all Americans, no matter what they believe,” said a person who was in the leadership team of a recent chairman of the #JointChiefs.

#law #Trump #Hegseth #Constitution #FreedomOfReligion

#Hegseth also scrapped the #Army’s Spiritual Fitness guide because, he said, it was more focused on self-care than “truth.” He wiped out dozens of #military codes for faith groups he deemed overkill.
#Pentagon press sec Kingsley Wilson said their office is “proud to host these services” & will continue to do so.

“Prayer services at the Pentagon are 100% voluntary & are not mandated whatsoever. It is not against the #law to worship Christ voluntarily anywhere in the United States,” Wilson said.

“The American #military has had a remarkable ride of equanimity & fairness & justice & all manner of good adjectives with regard to #religion. It’s done this in a way that’s really remarkable—until now,” said retired #Army Col. Larry Wilkerson, who served as chief of staff to Colin Powell when he was Secy of #State & then was chair of the #JointChiefs. #Hegseth’s actions, Wilkerson said, “are totally violative of everything that transpired before it. This has come on us in a very quick fashion.”

And in recent weeks, the #war with
#Muslim-majority #Iran has only made Hegseth’s approach more stark.
On Wednesday at the #Pentagon, #Hegseth prayed for #US #troops to inflict “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy…We ask these things with bold confidence in the mighty & powerful name of Jesus Christ.” Later that day, his department announced #military #chaplains would no longer wear their rank on their uniform & instead would wear #religious insignia.

#Trump #law

Rather than boosting cohesion through a more universal spiritual uplift, they say, the new approach violates the #Constitution & undermines the bonds of mutual #respect between #troops that are essential, especially in #wartime.

Every month at the #Pentagon, #Hegseth hosts #evangelical worship services that #legal experts say are unprecedented.

#law #Trump #Republicans #Constitution #FreedomOfReligion #Christianity #NewApostolicReformation #NAR #military #war #NationalSecurity #geopolitics

And as chair of the #JointChiefs of Staff in the late 2000s, with #troops in Iraq & Afghanistan, Navy Admiral Mike Mullen kept Mass off his public schedule, aiming to keep the particulars of his Catholic faith private.

But those longtime norms are being upended by the #proselytizing #Christian campaign of #Defense Sec Pete #Hegseth, say multiple former high-ranking #military officials & experts on #religion & #law.

#law #Trump #Constitution #FreedomOfReligion #NewApostolicReformation #NAR #war

#US #military leaders have long understood the power & perils of invoking faith — especially in #wartime.
Facing the Germans in WWII, Gen. George Patton ordered a chaplain to write an #interfaith prayer for #troops to say on the battlefield.
It took just a week in September 2001 for #Defense Sec #DonaldRumsfeld to change the name of the campaign against terrorism from Operation Infinite Justice to Operation Enduring Freedom — a switch meant to clarify that the US was not in a #religious #war.