[[ Looks like the enemy to me. ]]
DCG posted: " Stars and Stripes: A clean shave and a boot-camp buzz cut
are no longer mandatory for adherents of religions whose grooming practices
differ from those traditionally required by the U.S. military. The Pentagon
announced Wednesday that beards, turb" Respond to this post by replying
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New post on *Fellowship of the Minds*
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/dcgere/> Pentagon eases rules on
waivers for religious
grooming<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2014/01/24/pentagon-eases-rules-on-waivers-for-religious-grooming/>
by
DCG <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/dcgere/>
[image: army3]<http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/army3.jpg>
Stars and
Stripes<http://www.stripes.com/news/pentagon-eases-rules-on-waivers-for-religious-grooming-1.263435>:
*A clean shave and a boot-camp buzz cut are no longer mandatory for
adherents of religions whose grooming practices differ from those
traditionally required by the U.S. military.*
The Pentagon announced Wednesday that beards*, turbans, religious body art
and other previously off-limits manifestations of spiritual devotion can
now be allowed throughout the military*. The policy also OKs other
religious practices not related to appearance.
In the past, servicemembers occasionally managed to obtain exemptions to
policies for religious reasons, but there was no single set of guidelines;
the new policy says accommodations will approved unless the military
demonstrates a compelling reason to deny the request.
*The requests for religious accommodation should “reflect sincerely held
beliefs” and not damage military readiness, unit cohesion or good order and
discipline*, according to a revised Defense Department
instruction<http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/130017p.pdf>on
accommodation of religious practices.
The policy has its limits, but *is designed to allow troops free expression
of their religion*, as required by Congress in the 2013 National Defense
Authorization act, a spokesman said. Jews, Sikhs and Muslims in the
military — who together comprise less than 1 percent of the active-duty
military, according to a DOD tally based on self-reporting — are among
those who in recent years have sought greater latitude to comply with their
religions.
“When requests for accommodation are made, the needs of the requesting
servicemember are balanced against the needs of mission accomplishment,”
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Nathan Christensen wrote in an email. *“Only
if it is determined that the needs of mission accomplishment outweigh the
needs of the servicemember may the request be denied.”*
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in December sent a letter to Defense
Secretary Chuck Hagel about department policies it said “may result in the
unnecessary exclusion of Sikh Americans and Americans of other religious
faiths from military service based on their religious beliefs manifested in
their dress and grooming.”
Requests for accommodation that don’t conflict with standing DOD policies —
such as allowing troops to engage in prayers required by their religion
throughout the day — can be dealt with by immediate commanders, he said.
Others that butt up against existing policies, such as the wearing of
beards or headgear, will need waivers issued by military department
secretaries, or by military officers no lower than heads of personnel and
manpower for each service.
A group of high-ranking military chaplains and officials from DOD and
religious organizations that work with troops will appear Wednesday before
the House Armed Services Committee to discuss the Pentagon’s implementation
of legislation requiring the military to make religious accommodations for
servicemembers.
*Reaction to the policy Wednesday was diverse and intense.*
Rabbi Sanford Dresin, director of military programs at the Aleph Institute,
a Jewish non-profit organization that advocates for military members and
prisoners, said he was surprised and cheered by the new policy. The
institute recently waged a successful legal battle to win a Jewish
chaplain’s right to wear a full beard.
“If this is all true, I’m ecstatic to say the least,” he said. *“I think it
demonstrates sensitivity and respect for multiculturalism.”*
Dresin said he was gearing up to contend with the Marine Corps over the
right of Jewish Marines to wear yarmulkes, headwear many Jews feel their
religion requires them to wear. He said he now hopes the new policy makes
the effort unnecessary.
Dresin, a chaplain endorser for DOD, said it would also make recruiting
Jewish chaplains easier. “There remains a shortage of Jewish chaplains in
the military and I feel that I will be able to provide additional chaplains
if this is the case,” he said.
But Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation
— which battles what he describes as fundamentalist Christian domination of
the military — *said the relatively small numbers of non-Christian
practitioners who benefit from the new rules would be dwarfed by the number
of Christians who use it as cover to try to impose their belief system*.
DOD will find it harder to fight the spread of homophobia, anti-Islam
sentiment, misogyny and anti-Semitism with the new policy, he predicted.
“Far from this being all about beards and turbans for Sikhs or yarmulke for
Jewish personnel,* I am concerned over a potential for a new tsunami of
fundamentalist Christian oppression and tyranny from superiors to their
subordinates*,” Weinstein said.
Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplains Alliance for Religious
Liberty, an evangelical group that often takes issue with Weinstein,
welcomed the ruling.
He said the organization’s members are concerned that with recent changes
in DOD policies governing open service of gays in the military and allowing
benefits for same-sex spouses, they would be limited in expressing their
faith’s teachings on homosexuality. The new ruling provides some assurance,
he said.
“Our initial response is that we are grateful that DOD is taking seriously
Section 533 that was passed in the FY13 NDAA,” he said. “And we’re wanting
to make sure that military members are able to exercise their religious
liberties without any fear of recrimination.”
DCG
*DCG <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/dcgere/>* | January 24, 2014
at 4:00 am | Tags: DoD <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=dod> |
Categories: Military <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=33806753>, Obama's
America <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=12285619> | URL:
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