Rear Admiral [Ret.] Jim Carey is Chairman of the NATIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEE and NATIONAL DEFENSE PAC. His background includes duty in cruisers and amphibs, at Naval Beach Group, and in the Pentagon, and naval service from Seaman Recruit to Rear Admiral. He also served in the Reagan and George Bush Sr. Administrations. Further details at The National Defense Committee and The National Defense Political Action Committee.
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The “Thought Police” are alive and well and active in our nation, this time under the guise of “freedom of religion.” And if you don’t believe me, just reflect back on the recent flak with the Boy Scouts where an American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] lawsuit had our own Defense Department lawyers suggesting that the boy scouts shouldn’t/couldn’t/wouldn’t be located at or conduct functions on U. S. military bases because their oath mentions God.
The whole flak had to do with the part of the Boy Scout oath which states: “On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country...” The fact that the Boy Scouts mention God in their oath seemed to put the ACLU into a giant hissy fit, alleging that this somehow violated the “separation of church and state doctrine” and that so long as the scouts mention God in their oath, they can’t use facilities paid for with taxpayer dollars, and that includes military bases. As my dear departed Irish Father would have said, “What a bunch of horse-puckey.”
To begin with, the separation of church and state doctrine has zero to do with acknowledging God. Rather, what the Constitution actually says in this regard in the First Amendment is that “Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion, or restricting the free exercise thereof”, which means that unlike the nations where our Founding Fathers came from that had State-mandated religions, in America there would be no such State-designated religion, and no laws restricting anyone from practicing the religion of their choice. But there was never any intent to totally divorce our nation and its government from their freedom to acknowledge God, nor to distance our country and our armed forces from groups like the Boy Scouts, which have proven to be superb training grounds for many young boys who ultimately choose to join the U.S. military and make it a career. And indeed, our nation, our government and our armed forces are replete with a broad historical base of reference to and acknowledgement of God, and quite frankly, a national history of “not restricting the free exercise thereof.” And while the examples are too numerous to be all-inclusive, just a few of the more obvious follow:
Every member of the armed forces, including Commander-in-Chief George Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, takes an oath “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States...” and very clearly ends with the phrase that is very much a part of this oath “so help me God.” Surely, if every member of the armed forces officially references God in their oath of office or enlistment, almost always recited on federal property, then Boy Scouts should be allowed to do the same without being rousted from our military bases?
America’s armed forces have a highly respected and fully integrated Chaplains Corps in each of the services. And “horror of horrors,” they wear religious symbols on their military uniforms. They also regularly use the word and acknowledge the existence of God. They are paid to do this with taxpayer dollars. If lawsuits force our armed forces to distance themselves from the Boy Scouts because their oath contains the word “God,” can the Chaplains Corps be far behind? Not only do they formally acknowledge God in religious services conducted on “federal property,” but they also wear religious symbols on their uniforms, and distribute religious literature from these federal buildings on federal property? Look out, Chaplains -- America’s “thought police” may soon be targeting YOU!
Along these same lines, has our beloved Department of Defense not been spending millions of dollars of taxpayer money to build religious chapels on federal property within our military bases? And are religious services not regularly held in these federally funded buildings, conducted by military chaplains paid with federal funds, and attended by federal employees also paid with federal funds? Do not these religious services regularly mention God? Of course they do. What is frightening is that in a nation and a military which promotes the oath we call “The Pledge of Allegiance” (and which contains the phrase “One nation, under God”) on a daily basis, some of our courts suggest that somehow the Boy Scouts referring to God in their oath violates the separation of church and state doctrine while our own Chaplains Corps and base chapels and Pledge of Allegiance does not. Talk about “convoluted logic”!
