OPINION:
Will religious discord in other nations affect America’s military (“Muslim nation imposes more draconian laws on blasphemy,” page 1, Sept. 4)?
U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force chaplaincy schools commission chaplains in five major faiths (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist). Some of the books regarded as authoritative in particular religions command votaries to harm nonbelievers (e.g., “But when the sacred months expire slay those who associate others with Allah in His Divinity wherever you find them.”)
Nidal Malik Hasan, a former Army officer, followed this belief and killed 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood massacre.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice holds: “Any person subject to this chapter who uses provoking or reproachful word or gestures towards any other person subject to this chapter shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.”
Are military chaplains required to reject hate speech passages in their religion’s seminal doctrines when teaching on military installations?
JOE BOYETT
Montgomery, Alabama
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