Today, May 2nd of the Year of Our Lord 2013, marks the “National Day of Prayer.” In accordance with his statutory duty, President Obama proclaimed: “All of us have the freedom to pray and exercise our faiths openly” and “I join the citizens of our Nation in … asking for God’s continued guidance, mercy, and protection.”
As the President and Secretary of Defense presumably know, Christians are required by myriad Scriptures to proselytize (i.e., “share the Gospel” with or “witness” to non-Christians). For example, Acts 1:8 says: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Mark 16:15 states: “He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’”
In the last week, there have been shocking revelations exposing the successful efforts of a radical anti-Christian extremist to pressure the Pentagon to threaten Christian personnel with court martial or other disciplinary action if they’re caught proselytizing.
Congressman Huelskamp (R-Kansas) issued the following statement:
“On this National Day of Prayer, I was moved to intercede on behalf of the chaplain corps and Christians in uniform. I asked the Lord to guide President Obama and Secretary Hagel to protect the fundamental Constitutional rights of our service members to exercise their faiths openly. Our military personnel risk their lives to protect our constitutional rights. I will continue to do my part to make sure their civilian chain of command protects theirs. ”
Rep. Huelskamp has made the protection of religious freedom, especially in the Armed Forces, a high priority on his legislative agenda. Five months ago, a significant victory was achieved when the House of Representatives passed the Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) conference report with a provision (found in Section 533 of the NDAA) that was taken from Rep. Huelskamp’s Military Religious Freedom Protection Act (H.R. 3828). That language provides protections to ensure military chaplains will not be required to participate in or perform any services, rites, or rituals that conflict with their religious views, and to ensure service members will not be denied promotion or any other opportunities in retaliation for practicing their faith and speaking their sincerely-held religious views. H.R. 3828 was introduced in response to the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the repeal of training instructions that restricted the religious liberties of service members and chaplains.