The FFRF Action Fund names Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., its Secularist of the Week for helping lead an effort to investigate reports of religious extremism influencing U.S. military operations.
Houlahan, ranking member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel, has joined Congressional Freethought Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., in spearheading a letter signed by 27 additional members of Congress requesting that Department of Defense Inspector General Platte B. Moring III open an investigation into allegations that military commanders invoked religious prophecy and apocalyptic theology to justify U.S. military actions in Iran.
According to reports cited in the letter, a number of service members have lodged anonymous complaints that commanders framed U.S. military operations in religious terms, including suggesting that the conflict is connected to biblical prophecy or an end-times scenario.
“At a time when billions of dollars and untold numbers of lives hang in the balance while the Trump administration wages a war of choice in Iran, the imperative of maintaining strict separation of church and state and protecting the religious freedom of our troops is especially critical,” the letter states. “We must ensure that military operations are guided by facts and the law, not end-times prophecy and extreme religious beliefs.”
The members of Congress also warn that these reports may indicate a larger problem of religious extremism within the military’s civilian leadership. “These allegations are also part of a broader political climate in which Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and senior civilian officials have publicly framed Middle East policy in explicitly religious terms,” says the letter.
The lawmakers have asked the inspector general to determine whether commanders have made statements suggesting that U.S. military actions are part of a divine plan or religious prophecy, and whether such conduct violates Department of Defense policies requiring religious neutrality. Among other questions, the members requested that the investigation examine whether such statements violate DoD Instruction 1300.17 on religious liberty and neutrality, whether service members who raised concerns experienced retaliation, and whether additional guidance or oversight is needed to make certain that personal religious beliefs are not used to justify or frame U.S. military operations.
Ensuring that the armed forces remain religiously neutral is essential to protecting the constitutional rights of service members of all faiths and none.
“Members of our military should never feel pressured to accept religious beliefs from their commanders, nor should war be justified using apocalyptic religious ideology,” FFRF Action Fund President Annie Laurie Gaylor remarks. “Rep. Houlahan and her colleagues are standing up for the Constitution and the religious freedom of the brave men and women who serve our country.”
The FFRF Action Fund applauds Rep. Houlahan and the dozens of her fellow members of Congress who are safeguarding the constitutional rights of our troops.
FFRF Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) organization that develops and advocates for legislation, regulations and government programs to preserve the constitutional principle of separation between state and church. It also advocates for the rights and views of nonbelievers, endorses candidates for political office, and publicizes the views of elected officials concerning religious liberty issues.