Pentagon Evangelism Called 'National Security Threat'

Christian military officers who share their faith at work in the Pentagon pose a threat to national security, according to a group that advocates for religious neutrality in the military. Public displays of faith by high-ranking military officers project an image of a Christian nation waging war on non-Christians, both inside and outside the United States, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation recently said. This created an "internal national security issue every bit as great as the one we're fighting outwardly," said the organization's president, Mikey Weinstein. "The jihadists, the insurrectionists, everybody from the head of Hamas, Hizballah, the Islamic Jihad, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, they see us as invading American imperialists and crusaders," he told a news conference in Washington, D.C. Weinstein, a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy who has been critical of proselytizing at the academy, called for an investigation into several officers who appeared in a promotional video for a Christian organization while in uniform. In addition to creating a national security threat, Weinstein said, evangelistic efforts by Christian officers directed toward their colleagues or subordinates amounted to "coercion" and "fanatical unconstitutional religious persecution."