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Amid many divisions in our country, here is something that should be universally true: military service members should not be forced to abandon their religion to serve our country. (1/11)
Becket has worked with the @Sikh_Coalition and other partners for years, defending the rights of religious minorities in the U.S. military who need accommodations to practice their faith freely. (2/11)
But litigation could be avoided with greater awareness of service members’ *existing* free exercise rights. (3/11)
That’s why we wrote a letter in support of legislative language requiring religious accommodation training for all commanders, JAGs, and chaplains. (4/11) https://s3.amazonaws.com/becketnewsite/Becket_Sikh-Colation_-NDAA-FY-2021-conference-committee-letter_10142020.pdf @JimInhofe @SenJackReed @RepAdamSmith @MacTXPress
An overwhelming bipartisan majority of Congress agreed, and passed a law requiring @DeptofDefense to implement training (sec. 556). (5/11) https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20201207/CRPT-116hrpt617.pdf
If that training is robust, it could ensure that chains of command are aware of the need for religious accommodations and how to correctly apply the laws that provide them. (6/11)
These trainings could make the accommodation process easier for soldiers like Simmer Singh, a decorated captain in the @USArmy, who won a religious accommodation for his turban and beard in 2017. (7/11)
Simmer Singh’s expressions of faith were unfamiliar to many—including many in his chain of command. (8/11)
Failure to enforce existing laws granting religious accommodations has harmed service members’ careers and #religiousfreedom. Religious liberty is a right to be protected, not a risk to be managed. (9/11)
It is also a force multiplier that makes our military more effective. Congress recognized in 2016 that religious diversity is a strength and accommodating religious groups expands the pool of men and women who can serve our country. (10/11) https://www.congress.gov/114/plaws/publ92/PLAW-114publ92.pdf
Service to God need not prevent service to country. Let’s #unite on religious liberty for all. @HASCDemocrats @HASCRepublicans @SASCDems @SASCMajority (11/11)
