“Religious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense, LCDR Nate Christensen said in a written statement. He declined to say if any chaplains or service members had been prosecuted for such an offense.
This is simply incorrect. The religious rights of service members on their own time is fully protected. The religious rights of those on government time is protected for the most part. For example, one cannot stop in the middle of the assault on Hill 109 and demand a worship service right then and there. Can that soldier say before attacking the hill, "Who wants to pray with me?" He sure can.
And can he say, "You need to believe in Jesus!"? He sure can. The same as anyone in America can at any point in time.
To say otherwise is to say that there is a government prescribed religion to which one must adhere.
From Army Field Manual 4-0, Chapter 13, Religious Support:
Chapter 13Religious Support
Chaplains, on behalf of the commander, provide and perform religious support (RS) in the Army to ensure the free exercise of religion. Chaplains are obligated to provide for those religious services or practices that they cannot personally perform. Chaplains perform religious support when their actions are in accordance with the tenets or beliefs of their faith group. Chaplain assistants assist the chaplain in providing or performing this religious support.
The First Amendment guarantees every American the right to the free exercise of religion. Title 10 requires the military to ensure that right to military personnel. The Army implements this requirement in AR 165-1. Religious support operations ensure those rights of free exercise of religion to the soldier, family members, and authorized civilians. This includes religious services, rites, sacraments, ordinances, pastoral care, religious education, family life ministry, institutional ministry, professional support to the command and staff, management and administration, religious/humanitarian support, religious support planning/operations and religious support training. Religious support also includes advice to the command on matters of religion, morals, morale, and the coordination with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and private voluntary organizations (PVOs), as appropriate. FM 1-05 and JP 1-05 provide detailed discussions of religious support.
FM 1-05 says:
1-4. At every echelon of the force, the chaplaincy is the Army’s primary agency for ensuring the right to free exercise of religion for Soldiers on behalf of the commander. The chaplains and chaplain assistants, from the Chief of Chaplains down to battalion UMTs, fulfill this core and essential responsibility. Based upon the requirements of the operational mission, a Soldier exercises this right in a number of ways to include:- Worshipping according to one’s faith.
- Seeking religious counsel and care.
- Keeping holy days and observances.
- Participating in rites, sacraments, and ordinances.
- Practicing dietary laws.
One can't "keep observances" such as "witnessing", if one is prevented from doing so. The only way to tell a soldier that he/she can't "keep an observance" of his religion is to force him to follow a different religion.
...or a LIE!