During the height of the war on terrorism, Lt. Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin found himself in big trouble with the mainstream media and the Bush administration for professing his Christian faith while in uniform and for sharing some blunt views on Islam. Since Boykin’s retirement in 2007, cultural changes have come rapidly to the armed forces – most especially the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) in 2010. As a result of that law, gays and lesbians may now serve openly in the military. Boykin firmly believes this trend will hurt morale and diminish performance because these new dynamics will create trust issues among our troops – issues that could cost lives. He says the impact of repealing DADT probably won’t be seen for about a decade but once apparent it will likely hurt recruiting in years to come. However, Boykin, is perhaps even more outraged at what he sees as an erosion of basic religious freedom in the military. Now the executive vice president at the Family Research Council, Boykin says the military is increasingly hostile to the freedom to worship. He cites a new directive from the U.S. Air Force forbidding commanders from using their position to express their faith. Boykin finds this particularly galling, asserting that the very people tasked with defending our First Amendment rights are being deprived of their own.
