The Pentagon has released a statement confirming that soldiers could be prosecuted for promoting their faith: “Religious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense…Court martials and non-judicial punishments are decided on a case-by-case basis…”. …Being convicted in a court martial means that a soldier has committed a crime under federal military law.
Pentagon Backtracks
on Evangelization Comments, Investigation Launched
The
Department of Defense spokesperson who made the comments backtracked in a new
statement Thursday that explained, “Service members can share their faith
(evangelize), but must not force unwanted, intrusive attempts to convert others
of any faith or no faith to one’s beliefs (proselytization).” “Members of our
military should not be denied the very freedoms they fight to defend. Freedom of
religion and speech are paramount among those freedoms,” said Legal Counsel
Joseph La Rue. “We appreciate the Pentagon’s clarification, but little or no
evidence exists of coercive proselytization in the military, so we are still
troubled over what motivated the original comments.”