#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.
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 #ChurchAndState #NewApostolicReformation #NAR #war