Air Force cracking down on Christians
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By Todd Starnes
Todd's American Dispatch September 06, 2013
A 19-year Air Force veteran who was relieved of his duties because he disagreed with his openly gay commander over gay marriage is now facing a formal investigation after he told me his story.
Senior Master Sgt. Phillip Monk found himself at odds with his Lackland Air Force Base commander after he objected to her plans to severely punish an instructor who had expressed religious objections to homosexuality. During the conversation, his commander ordered him to share his personal views on homosexuality.
“I was relieved of my position because I don’t agree with my commander’s position on gay marriage,” he told me.
“We’ve been told that if you publicly say that homosexuality is wrong, you are in violation of Air Force policy.”
In one of her first meetings with Monk, the commander expressed concern about the chaplain who would deliver the benediction at her promotion ceremony.
Steve Branson, pastor of Village Parkway Baptist Church, tells me that as many as a half dozen of his church members are currently facing persecution on the base for their religious beliefs.
“She said she wanted a chaplain but objected to one particular chaplain that she called a bigot because he preached that homosexuality is a sin,” Monk said.
After he was relieved of his duties, the Liberty Institute filed a religious discrimination complaint on his behalf.
Last week, Monk was supposed to meet with an Air Force investigator tasked with gathering facts about the complaint. But when he arrived, Monk was immediately read his Miranda Rights and accused of providing false statements in a conversation Monk had with me.
“I immediately got the sense that this was retaliation against me for coming forward with my religious discrimination complaint,” he said.
The accusations against Monk are a court-martial offense in the Air Force – and it’s quite possible that the 19-year veteran with a spotless record could be booted out of the military because of his Christian beliefs.
And he’s not the only Christian at Lackland Air Force Base facing persecution for opposing gay marriage, according to Monk’s pastor.
Steve Branson is the pastor of Village Parkway Baptist Church, about five miles from the Air Force base. He tells me that as many as a half dozen of his church members are currently facing persecution on the base for their religious beliefs.
“Sgt. Monk is just the tip of the iceberg,” the pastor tells me. “Anyone who doesn’t hold to the right view on homosexuality is having a very difficult time.”
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So under Obama, those who are grounded in the ethics and values of Christianity are no longer welcome, but those who increasingly see the military as a social petri dish are promoted and put in charge. It is not comforting to think a litmus test is being applied to the military, and those with traditional values, values that informed and motivated the success of the military in times past, are no longer tolerated. As Obama systematically guts the military, Christians are now the ones forced into a "don't ask, don't tell" position. Just keep telling yourself there is no agenda and there is no slippery slope. |
