Military Religious Freedom Act defends conscience
Sen. Jim Inhofe and Sen. Roger Wicker
The Washington Times
10/5/2012
Our Founding Fathers spoke much about the importance of “freedom of conscience” and its underpinning of all other freedoms. In 1803, Thomas Jefferson said, “We are bound, you, I, and every one to make common cause even with error itself, to maintain the common right of freedom of conscience.”
Recent decisions by the Obama administration and Pentagon leaders threaten this common right, and their assault on freedom of conscience raises new and serious concerns — especially for our servicemen and women. Our armed services were created with an apolitical framework, and this unique platform has helped maintain Americans’ trust and respect for the military. Since repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, however, the administration has looked to the military as a way to advocate a liberal social agenda and challenge Americans’ freedom of conscience…
…Even though President Obama has unilaterally decided to shirk his responsibility to uphold the law of the land by refusing to enforce DOMA, the military should not be used a pawn to advance the president’s liberal social agenda…
…The president’s focus should be on advancing the best interests of our service members, overall military readiness and national security. While the president tries to push a controversial social agenda, our military men and women are suffering from dangerous defense budget cuts, outdated military equipment, alarmingly high suicide rates and high unemployment following their time in service. With sequestration looming, the president is threatening to keep our men and women on the front lines while reducing their needed resources by another 10 percent.
Our brave men and women deserve better…
Read the entire article at The Washington Times.
