Pentagon May Court Martial Those Who Proselytize

Breitbart reports that the Department of Defense has released a statement indicating it could prosecute service members that proselytize. The problem, as with many other vaguely worded criminal issues, is the general creeping expansion of definitions. A perfect example is the concept of "deadly weapon" under Federal law which has expanded from being limited to using an item intended to be a weapon and deadly, to practically anything that could draw blood, including fingernails and keys.

Definitions are the issue here as well:

This regulation would severely limit expressions of faith in the military, even on a one-to-one basis between close friends. It could also effectively abolish the position of chaplain in the military, as it would not allow chaplains (or any service members, for that matter), to say anything about their faith that others say led them to think they were being encouraged to make faith part of their life. It’s difficult to imagine how a member of the clergy could give spiritual counseling without saying anything that might be perceived in that fashion. 

In response to the Pentagon’s plans, retired Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, who is now executive vice president of the Family Research Council (FRC), said on Fox & Friends Wednesday morning: 

It’s a matter of what do they mean by "proselytizing." ...I think they’ve got their defintions a little confused. If you’re talking about coercion that’s one thing, but if you’re talking about the free exercise of our faith as individual soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines, especially for the chaplains, they I think the worst thing we can do is stop the ability for a soldier to be able to exercise his faith.”