Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican,
has defended a proposed “conscience clause” which would expand
religious protections in the military.
The amendment to the National Defense
Authorization Act was proposed by Rep. John Fleming, a Republican
from Louisiana, and adopted by the House last week.
In a statement, the White House said
that it opposed the amendment, now titled Section 530 of the House
bill.
“The administration strongly objects
to section 530, which would require the Armed Forces to accommodate,
except in cases of military necessity, 'actions and speech'
reflecting the 'conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs of
the member.' By limiting the discretion of commanders to address
potentially problematic speech and actions within their units, this
provision would have a significantly adverse effect on good order,
discipline, morale and mission accomplishment.”
On Wednesday, Fleming criticized the
Obama administration's admonishment, saying that the president is
“continuing his war on free speech.”
“With its statement, the White House
is now endorsing military reprimands of members who keep a Bible on
their desk or express a religious belief,” Fleming said. “That
is an outrageous position, but it's what I've come to expect from an
administration that is aggressively hostile toward religious beliefs
that it deems to be politically incorrect.”
Speaking at the Faith and Freedom
Coalition conference on Friday, Cruz also criticized the president.
“We have reports of servicemen and
women being told that, 'If you share your faith with others, you will
face disciplinary action and perhaps court martial,'” Cruz said.
“The idea that we would say to men and women who are risking their
lives … that they have to check their First Amendment rights at the
door and give up the right to speak the truth and to speak and defend
their faith, it's wrong and it's unconstitutional.”
“Congress is acting right now to make
very clear in the law that our service men and women don't give up
their faith when they sign up to defend this country. The Obama
administration has explicitly said it opposes such efforts and has
threatened to veto.”
Writing at progressive blog Think
Progress, Zack Ford noted that “there is a difference between the
religious beliefs a person holds and the actions that [a] person
takes.”
“Somehow, conservatives have co-opted
the idea that 'faith' is synonymous with condemning people for being
gay or openly discriminating against them. In addition to justifying
such oppression, this approach insults the many people of faith who
do support LGBT equality – or are LGBT themselves,” Ford
wrote.