So, the Pentagon is “perplexed” (according to CNN) about how patients at Walter Reed Army Hospital could have been denied “religious materials”. This was the biggest non-story of the day coming out of the signing of the President’s Religious Liberty Executive Order last Thursday. The Pentagon would rather be perplexed, a status that gives them plausible deniability in just about anything. To say that those in the puzzle palace are perplexed at any given moment on any issue is a non-story. I would know, having worked there.
The truth is that when Pentagon guidelines are issued, the bottom line is always “Commanders are responsible for . . .” enforcement, adherence, and just about anything else you want to fill in the blank there. Such was the case when guidelines were issued for enforcement of the new law allowing for openly serving homosexuals. Such was the case when Chaplains were told which sins were approved by the US Government and which sins weren’t. Such was the case for this policy at Walter Reed.
The truth is the policies that address these social constructs in a military organization are necessarily vague because you never want the unit to forget its first priority—to fight and win our nation’s wars. In combat, you might have to set aside these social constructs for the time being or you may not have a unit that survives to reinstate them.
But, in the process of Commanders “commanding away,” some of the hundreds of them are going to get the policy wrong or find out that the people in their unit are offended by the way they are commanding (spelled “unlucky” or “fired”). Why would any junior officer want to aspire to command today? Could this be the reason why so many are leaving the service early? Don’t ask the Pentagon. They are perplexed.
The problem is one of civilian social activists (and their leader who, before he was a politician, was a civilian social activist) forcing their worldview on the military and then leaving town, telling the Pentagon they need to figure out how to do it. This is never a good thing.
If the policy at Walter Reed was changed after the original Commander interpreted it incorrectly, the Pentagon tells us now that it was changed to read “Patients determine their visitors.” I suppose that’s true, right after they and their families arrive on the reservations because they’ve declared they’re Christians.
You see, over the last eight years, I’ve been told by my opponents that I could believe what I wanted, but I had to keep my beliefs to myself. My president told me that I could believe what I wanted, but I had to keep my beliefs confined to the four walls of my house of worship or the four walls of my home. In other words, I had to keep my Christian culture on the reservation.
We can’t really go back and ask Native Americans what they thought about the government trying to dictate to their culture and contain it by placing them on reservations. But, I think we know.
That’s why this executive order is a welcome change of tone from Washington. Let’s just hope it is followed up by more action and enforcement than the peace treaties the Great White Father in Washington signed for our native ancestors 150 years ago.