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I disagree, Jude. There is to be no loss of 1st amendment religious rights for military members. (There is the provision about not violating federal drug, violence, etc. laws. We can’t condone peyote use or human sacrifice, but that would not be the case with proselytism.)

The commander can postpone certain requirements and he can set the location for them, but he cannot forbid them. Doing so would be a clear violation of the 1st amendment.

It would be the same as with political speech. He can set the times, places, uniform, duty status, etc., but he cannot forbid political activity/speech.

My advice to anyone who wants to distribute Christian literature is simply to do it and not to bring it to the attention of the command. It is better to ask forgiveness than permission, and there’s NO WAY someone will be prosecuted for such a thing. That would cause a SH_TSTORM the likes of which the military would not want to see.)

Let me make a few points about this story to put it into perspective:

The United States Military destroyed Bibles.

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Now imagine the headline if a Muslim Soldier had a stack of Korans and was distributing them to Christians.

Do you think there is any possibility that the following would happen?

The United States Military destroys copies of the Koran.

One soldier took that duty upon himself and used one for target practice and he was removed from Iraq and "disciplined" (read - most likely - dishonorably discharged). If he had shot up a Bible, the he would have been asked to clean up the mess and that would have been the end of it. But it was a Koran, so he was removed from the theatre.

The United States Military destroyed Bibles.

That kinda says it all.

While I frown upon those who refuse to serve in Iraq or Afghanistan because they think we are in an "illegal war", I think that those who would refuse to serve in those theaters because they cannot freely practice their religion (i.e., tell people about the gospel during their down time) should not be required to lay down their lives to protect those who would kill a man simply for believing in Christ.

America signed off on the Constitution that effectively outlawed Christianity in Afghanistan. Therefore, no Christian should be required to serve there. We are not fighting for the Afghanistan people's freedom. Without freedeom of religion, all other freedoms are illusory.

Political speech is a good analogy. Soldiers do not forfeit their right to their opinions, or even to engage in most forms. That being said, there are times when political speech is not accepted in the military. I can't wear, for example, any of my uniforms to any partisan gatherings. I can't use my rank as a means to suggest Army endorsement of a policy, person, or party. We have these rules so that our Army doesn't become politically decisive like in banana republics.

likewise, there are good reasons a soldier shouldn't engage in prosyletization in theater. One of the Taliban's best arguments against us as an invading force is to appeal to the population's fears that we're there as "Crusaders." Thats the word they use to describe us. Soldiers who engage in organized prosyletization give credibility to that argument - and therefore endanger the lives of all Soldiers and of host nation civilians. That is reckless and irresponsible.

Soldiers agree when they enlist to subordinate their rights to the needs of the mission. This is one such example.