Before the government lifted the ban on open homosexuals in the military, Bible-believing chaplains were feeling growing hostility to the gospel and biblical truth. As evidence, World News Service lists the following: "[T]his year: An Army Reserve training brief on hate groups declares that evangelical Christians and Roman Catholics are extremists as dangerous as al Qaeda. A commander tells a chaplain to "stay in your lane" when he offers spiritual advice about the military`s exploding sexual assault problem. "Last year: A superior tells an Air Force major to remove from his desk the Bible he had kept there for 23 years. An Army lieutenant colonel instructs his subordinates to recognize the "religious right in America" as a domestic hate group like the KKK and Neo-Nazis. An Army master sergeant with 25 years of service faces punishment for serving Chick-fil-A sandwiches at his promotion party.
"Two years ago: Christian prayers banned at veteran funeral services in Houston`s National Cemetery. Bibles temporarily banned at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. A Christian cross banned from a military chapel in Afghanistan. A chaplain called into his supervisor`s office and chewed out for closing a prayer with the words "In Jesus` name."
For several years, an atheist humanist organization called the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) has been mounting lawsuits against any Christian displays on government property. Now, a Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) is specifically targeting Bible believers in the military.
Its founder, Mikey Weinstein, a vehement anti-Christian and former Air Force advocate general, has surfaced in the discussion of military religious freedom. This was alarming because he recently stated in a Huffington Post column that evangelical Christians are "monsters of human degradation."
The Pentagon has responded that, while "proselytizing" is forbidden by regulations, the right to evangelize was carefully protected. Southern Baptist leaders immediately questioned who would be deciding the difference. Webster`s dictionary finds little significant difference in the definitions.
Most telling is the actual experiences of chaplains and Christians in the military. The Wall Street Journal provides the following quote: Joe Carter, a former Marine and an editor for the online evangelical magazine The Gospel Coalition, says nobody can take religious freedom for granted. "There was a time—just a few years ago, in fact—when we could laugh off such views by extremists like Weinstein. But the political climate has become increasingly hostile to religious liberties."
Coast Guard Rear Admiral William Lee spoke at this year`s National Day of Prayer: "They expect us to check our religion in at the door —don`t bring that here," Lee said. "Leaders like myself are feeling the constraints of rules and regulations and guidance issued by lawyers that put us in a tighter and tighter box regarding our constitutional right to express our religious faith.... …Pray that we will be able to weather the storm." Lee received five standing ovations.
This is just a small sampling of the news articles exposing this trend in the military. No part of our life is immune to this massive attack by Satan`s disciples who have invaded our culture. For over a hundred years prophetic voices have warned of creeping humanism, anti-Christian and anti-biblical teachings in our schools, media, and some "churches." We failed to listen and now the monster is out of the cage.
The precious freedom that we see slipping away was bought by the blood of millions of our brave soldiers. Unless enough hearts are turned back to God to reestablish a measure of righteousness in the land, they may have died in vain.
Tract saturation was a major factor in past revivals. The more tracts you can get out, the better our chances of sparking the revival so desperately needed.