When I was a teenager, I attended a camp called Boys State. It was described to me by my high school principal as an opportunity for high school boys to engage in a simulation of a state-level legislative session while staying on a college campus. It was a chance to get away from home for a few days, and it sounded like it would look good on a college application, so I agreed to go.
Little did I know what Boys State was really about. Run by the American Legion, Boys State turned out to be a gigantic recruiting operation. All throughout the camp, we were pressured to jon the military, to adhere to a conservative political agenda, and to behave as devout Christians. We were guided in these directions by a team of military recruiters who were given absolute authority over the boys at the camp, taking us through a miniature version of boot camp. Those who disobeyed the sergeants in any way were ritually humiliated in front of the other boys, so we all quickly learned to do whatever the recruiters told us to do. When they told us to take part in the prayers at evening meetings, we participated. When a Marine recruiter told us that Semper Fi, the motto of the Corps, meant loyalty to God, we responded with a “Sir, Yes Sir”, because we knew that if we didn’t, we’d be punished.
I reflect on this great mess of a teenage experience as I read an increasing number of reports confirming that American soldiers in military prisons have been engaged in the systematic desecration of the Koran. In a discussion of the growing scandal yesterday, someone asked me if I thought that the desecration itself was the real problem. I’ve been considering that question since, and this morning it occurs to me that no, the desecration of the Koran is not what I really object to. What I object to is that the American military is being used not just to attack people, but to attack a particular religion as well. The real underlying problem is that the military is being hijacked by members of conservative Christian sects to promote their particular religious views on the taxpayer’s dime.
It doesn’t appear that President Bush himself ordered the desecration of Korans, although the incidents were certainly facilitated by Bush’s clear directions to push beyond the boundaries of interrogation methods agreed upon by free nations. Instead, the idea of using military authority to attack the Koran seems to have arisen spontaneously from the ranks.
We should not be surprised at pervasive attacks against non-Christian religion in the military, because Christianity has been co-opted as a tool of imposing authority throughout the military. We American taxpayers hire clerics to convince American soldiers that they are doing the work of God. A High-ranking general tours the country telling crowds that the war on terror is really a religious war against satanic Islam. Missionaries from conservative Christian sects are given exclusive access to military bases in the United States in order to gain converts among the soldiers. Military recruiters appeal to Christian faith as a reason to enlist.
A long symbiotic relationship between Christianity and the American military has developed over time, and this relationship has often encouraged abuse. Recent reports, for example, indicate that the leaders of the Air Force Academy have engaged in “the official promotion of evangelical Christianity” as part of the education there, and allowed ongoing harassment of non-Christian cadets.
The mixture of Christianity and the American military is dangerous to both Christianity and to the military. The moral high ground that Christianity seeks to claim is lost when its “turn the other cheek” message is cast aside in order to make it compatible with the institutional violence of the military. The American military’s credibility is also called into question when it appears that it represents the will of only some of the American people. The separation of Church and State protects us all from abusive authorities who seek to use religion to take away our liberty. When the powers of religion and the military are mixed, we are all put at risk, whether we are members of the military or not.
New example today. The top student commander at a military academy used the academy’s computer networks to send out an official email to students exhorting them to serve Jesus. He apparently had judged that such emails were standard practice at the academy.