Evangelical military chaplains used free-speech claims to block religious diversity

Evidence

Under pressure from critics, the academy put together an interfaith team to promote religious diversity, but evangelicals up the chain of command rebuffed these efforts. When reviewing materials the team had compiled, Major General Charles Baldwin, air force chief of chaplains, repeatedly wanted to know why “Christians don’t ever win.” Baldwin, who had a master of divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and had served at the academy’s Cadet Chapel before taking up duties in Washington, also objected to a clip from Schindler’s List “because it made ‘Christians look like Nazis.’” (The scene was replaced with one from Mel Gibson’s We Were Soldiers.) With support from Focus on the Family’s Alliance Defense Fund, evangelical chaplain James Glass brought a legal motion claiming that any effort to curb prayer or proselytizing was a violation of his freedom of speech. — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 482

Categorization

• XREF: The Schindler’s List censorship and ‘Christians don’t ever win’ framing shows how evangelical grievance narrative presents Christians as persecuted majority, echoing chapters on victimhood rhetoric.