Jerry Boykin: I Would Be Brought Up on Charges in Today’s Military

In a fundraising email Tuesday morning, Family Research Council Executive Vice President Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin (ret.) discussed the problems Christians face today in the U.S. military.

The radical left’s assault on the religious freedom of the brave men and women serving our country in uniform—led by President Obama, the U.S. military’s commander in chief—is having a devastating effect on the morale of our troops.

What’s happening in the military has not gotten as much media attention as President Obama’s other abuses of freedom, but it is just as dangerous. If the truth be told, things are going from bad to worse for Christians in our armed forces.

Tony Perkins recently shared with you some disturbing examples of the persecution that many of our Christian servicemen and women now face. Chaplains are punished for sharing their faith, which by the way, is their sworn duty as military ministers of the gospel. Enlisted personnel are being court-martialed for displaying Bible verses. And now, military veterans are being physically assaulted!

At a recent retirement ceremony, Air Force veteran Oscar Rodriquez Jr. was forcibly removed from the proceedings because he was about to conclude the traditional flag-folding speech with these words:

“It is this one nation under God that we call, with honor, the United States of America. God bless our flag. God bless our troops. God bless America.”

No service member—or veteran—should ever be forced to deny the freedom to believe that he or she is sworn to defend. It is essential to the heart and soul of our military.

Before I led our troops into combat, it was my custom to pray that our mission would be successful and that God would protect us in battle.

I can personally attest to the power of those prayers. On one mission I was hit with a .50-caliber bullet. The doctors said that they would have to amputate my arm. As a result of God’s miraculous healing power and a lot of prayer, I still have my arm. Prayer works.

In today’s military, I could be brought up on charges for publicly leading my men in prayer.

Is that the kind of military you want? I certainly don’t. Those serving our country in the military risk life and limb to keep America free. Now it’s up to us to protect their ability to live their faith in these dangerous times. Our troops should never have to give up their freedom of religion and speech when they don our country’s uniform.

At the beginning of his email, Boykin said every military service member takes an oath to defend America from enemies “foreign and domestic.”

“When I took that oath over 40 years ago, I never thought I’d see the day when an enemy within would pose such a grave threat to the freedom we enjoy as Americans,” he wrote. “But that day has come.”