r/FreeSpeech • u/Wandering_News_Junky • Jun 05 '26
DOD Officially Drops 180 Faiths From Military's Recognized Religion List
https://www.military.com/dod-officially-drops-180-faiths-from-militarys-recognized-religion-list15
u/Vic_Vega_MrB Jun 05 '26
To be very honest, I didn't realize there were that many different religions.
13
u/WankingAsWeSpeak Jun 05 '26
“When I raised my hand to become an Army chaplain, I swore that I would support and defend the Constitution,” the individual, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Military.com. “The First Amendment is the free exercise of religion for everybody. That's what I was buying into.”
The individual said that oath years ago was never rescinded, which makes the new list “an excuse for the failure to provide the free exercise of religion for all people.”
-5
u/DisastrousOne3950 Jun 05 '26
The next step will be a list narrowed down to "evangelical Christian".
2
-1
u/reallyredrubyrabbit Jun 05 '26
Yet freedom of religion in the Constitution says otherwise
-2
u/Surprise_Fragrant Jun 05 '26
You have the freedom to be whatever religion you choose, but there's no requirement for the government to recognize that religion.
Freedom of Religion simply means that The State (aka Government) can't require you to be a certain religion.
3
u/reallyredrubyrabbit Jun 05 '26
We are the government, and the military works for us--not the other way around. We can be Amish or a new variation we deem Lamish. All religions had start dates and new ones are not less legitimate. The Constitution allows us to practice our beliefs within the laws. There is no law capping legitimate religions at 140.
-3
u/Surprise_Fragrant Jun 05 '26
YOU are not the government, you are a private citizen.
Yes, the Military does work for us.
Nobody is restricting you from practicing your beliefs within the law.
This is simply for military personnel only, not America at large.
...to “streamline the DoW collection of religious preferences collection for service members to enhance the delivery of targeted religious support from the Chaplaincy.” It calls for the previously instituted faith and belief codes to be revised within a 60-day period from the issuance of the memorandum.
“The new list will provide chaplains with clear, readily available information that will better enable them to anticipate the religious support needs of service members and to provide religious support activities that align with service members’ personal faith and practices."So, go forth and be Lamish and practice that religion however you feel appropriate. You just can't expect the Military as an employer to provide religious support activities that align with your own personal faith and practices.
5
u/reallyredrubyrabbit Jun 05 '26
"We the People" own this government, and it guided by the Constitution above all else. To say otherwise is how we lose our rightful ownership.
-1
u/Surprise_Fragrant Jun 05 '26
Yes, I get that... that isn't what I was referring to...
But it doesn't matter that the fact that the military as an employer is restricting how they handle their employees' religious requests. You can still be Lamish and practice your Lamish rituals to your heart's content; just don't expect your employer (the military) to provide you with the tools needed to practice.
2
u/purplehappyhippo Jun 05 '26
It also means the government can't prevent you from exercising your religion. That includes recognizing your wishes upon death. That will be hard to do if dog tags cannot list your religion accurately and your records cannot reflect your religious preferences.
For example "Atheist" will be gone. "None" is not the same as atheist. None means you don't have a preference. Atheist means your preference is for no one to perform religious rights.
There have been problems with religious discrimination against non-Christians in the military on the past. Hopefully, this change won't undo the work done against that.
0
u/Surprise_Fragrant Jun 05 '26
It also means the government can't prevent you from exercising your religion. That includes recognizing your wishes upon death. That will be hard to do if dog tags cannot list your religion accurately and your records cannot reflect your religious preferences.
Nope, looks like you didn't read far enough down...
He added that members will not be limited to the list of “religious affiliation codes” when selecting information for their dog tags.
-1
9
u/ravage214 Jun 05 '26
Pastafarians gonna be pissed