Religious Freedom is Important for Readiness

so why are violations of service member rights going ignored?

A shocking Department of Defense Inspector General (DOD IG) report sent to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to inform him of “potential noncompliance with standards for reviewing and documenting the denial of religious accommodation requests” was recently provided to Danny at Terminal CWO. This report provides compelling evidence that resonates with my own experience that the DOD is systematically infringing upon the religious freedom of service members. I’ve argued on this publication that religious freedom is the foundation of holistic health and fitness (H2F). I’ve further argued that H2F is the foundation of military readiness. We can’t get after readiness while simultaneously engaging in practices that directly undermine its foundation.

This DOD IG report is significant because it demonstrates that the #DoDKnew that this behavior has been ongoing and has nevertheless done nothing to address it directly to this date. In fact, the DOD argues in court cases against the very evidence within the DOD IG report. If the DOD really wants to put people first, and cares about readiness as it purports to, one of the most effective things they could do is simply respect the religious freedom of service members by taking the bold step of obeying federal law. This is something I called for in the very first article I published on substack. I sent that article to every senior leader I could think of. Responses were remarkably few. I suppose most figured it wasn’t their problem. Religion, spirituality, purpose, and meaning matter. If people don’t have a reason to put the work into becoming proficient at their jobs and building healthy lifestyle habits, then they won’t. Even if COVID vaccination doesn’t violate your religious beliefs, participation in an effort to infringe upon the religious rights of your fellow service members is absolutely toxic to your own spiritual foundation. Either your most deeply held convictions are sacred, or they’re not. If you see that the institution doesn’t care about the most deeply held beliefs of some of its people, it is impossible to escape the conclusion that the institution doesn’t care about the most deeply held convictions of any of its people.

Our Constitutional rights aren’t arbitrary. They are intertwined with the very fabric of America and what it means to serve in the military. I’d like to believe that this stunning report might shock some people awake to the breadth of the issues we’re facing as an organization, especially for those of us tasked with optimizing health and fitness, but I fear that a meaningful shift towards respecting religious freedom will not occur without direct messaging from senior leaders within the DOD. Unfortunately, I also fear that no one within the DOD will break with the unspoken policy of railroading ideological dissidents that is contributing to the unlawful trampling of religious freedom within the organization unless and until a federal judge orders them to. Even then, I’m not so sure it will be enough. Regardless of what senior leaders do, leaders at every level can provide moral support for their peers and subordinates. Recognize that unspoken policy is not policy. If doing the right thing by complying with federal law and regulations reflects poorly upon you in the eyes of your raters, you have a difficult choice to make, but it isn’t an impossible choice. I’ve heard of leaders being asked “is this the hill you want to die on?” when they deign to provide support for service members whose character is supposed to be assassinated per the unspoken policy. A select few of these leaders have stood tall, and I believe that their spiritual readiness and that of their subordinates profited from that action. Word is, none of them actually died on that hill, though some may have received a less favorable evaluation. Is that really too high a price to fulfill an oath?