|
So this was the first Fourth of July for the United States military since the orange, mentally ill, toddler, subhuman became the commander in chief of the United States military and a womanizing, alcoholic, fundamentalist Christian nationalist became its secretary of defense.
With the holiday now behind us, I wanted to report an unprecedented number of reach outs from our Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) clients all over the military regarding egregious violations of the separation of Jesus and state at a plethora of official and semi-official military formations designed to honor our nation’s birthday.
Drilling down to the specifics is beyond the scope and intention of this brief op-ed, but suffice it to say that the disease of Christian nationalism is well represented throughout the sinew, muscles, bones, and cartilage of the body of our United States military.
Sailors, soldiers, Marines, airmen, guardians, and civilians in our Department of Defense, and certainly VA employees and employees of the 18 national security agencies, the Coast Guard, and the Maritime Service remained terrified beyond description to stand up to this scourge of hateful religious extremism. These are not cowards. Many have faced multiple combat deployments, unlike Captain Bone Spurs. They just want to keep their heads down for the remaining 1,290 days of the MAGA regime and come out the other side with their careers unscathed. Those who contacted us this year did not so much want us to intervene as they wanted to have an ear to talk to about it.
So, you are not seeing a string of MRFF Fourth of July victories as in years past, like last year when we stopped one Christian nationalist commander’s Fourth of July “Chapel Attendance Competition” or a few years ago when we stopped several Army band appearances at Christian nationalist church events, one with a stated purpose to “celebrate our freedom as Americans and our freedom in Christ” and another described by one Army band MRFF client as “some sort of ‘Celebration of the Founding of America as a Christian Nation’ which is just unacceptable to most of us in the Band,” but that does not mean that the military’s Christian nationalist hordes weren’t out in force, very anti-patriotically violating the Constitution left and right. Far from it.
One photo we can share, however, sent to us by a MRFF supporter, is what appears to be a large military vehicle that was in a Fourth of July parade in the Houston area. It was festooned with Fourth of July accoutrement and, as you can see, something on the very front of the vehicle that is the epitome of the phrase I often use — a “tarantula on a wedding cake.” Although we have determined that this vehicle is not military, it certainly sent a message to the parade watchers that aligns with the unconstitutional, anti-democratic, hideous dictates of Christian nationalism.
Sinclair Lewis was so prescient when he stated, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag carrying a cross”!
| 
