No freedom of religion?

Our Freedom of Religion is in grave jeopardy.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth used his “warrior posture” to target the US Military’s chaplain services, cutting the recognized faith communities of chaplains from 211 to 31, then only adding back the Church of Latter-Day Saints after a protest.[1]

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote about this, channeling millennia of Jewish learning, saying: “No religion is an island. We are all involved with one another.”[2]

Hegseth’s approach to the US Military directly flouts the establishment clause of the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”.[3]

People of all faiths must band together in support of our military service people, demanding that they have access to chaplains of their own religious backgrounds. We must demand from our Congressional representatives that they reassert our legislature’s governance of the United States Armed Forces, so that we maintain an American society led by the clarion cry, that we are “of the people, for the people, and by the people.”

[1] Kilgore, E. (2026, June 10). Hegseth’s faith purge creates a holy mess. New York Magazine, Intelligencer. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/hegseths-pentagon-faith-purge-creates-a-holy-mess.html

[2] Heschel, A. J. (1966). No religion is an island. Union Seminary Quarterly Review, 21(2), 117.

[3] The Bill of Rights: A transcription. (2025, August 7). National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights-transcript#toc-amendment-i