Equality In The Military Essay

Now, more than ever, the importance of religious freedoms has risen to an unprecedented level of awareness, being at the forefront of society’s concerns. Among these concerns is the implementation of balance and equality in the today’s military, as it grows to accommodate quickly arising changes and as members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community increase. The chief concern of this integration is the challenge of not infringing on the values of existing religious groups, most notably, the Christian people. Being a Christian in the military has already presented challenges for those in the past, including Major General Oliver Otis Howard, United States Army, in the 1800s, Lt. Cmdr. Wesley Modder, United States Navy,
1). In 1828, a “Mr. Winslow” colorfully expressed that “the spirit of war is in direct and reconcilable hostility to that of Christianity. It demolishes what Christ builds up, and builds up what Christ demolishes” (p. 3). This “Mr. Winslow”, effectively analyzes the relationship between the nature of war and what Otis Howard faced on multiple occasions, though conversely, this statement goes against a separate proclamation that “Christian courage alone raises one above the fear of death, and inspires the manhood that makes a soldier truly brave” (p. 41). It was not until Howard’s discovery of Hedley Vicars, a young officer that converted to Christ after perusing a Bible he found in associate’s room, that he went on to boldly exhibit his belief in Christ (p. 9). This new-found faith prompted him to write a speech entitled, “The Christian Soldier”, at his next duty station, West Point Military Academy (p. 10). This was the beginning of his influence on