by Jayla Ward & Jorge Gomez • 3 minutes
The President’s Religious Liberty Commission recently held an important hearing in which it heard testimony about the attacks on religious freedom happening in the military. However, even considering the many challenges that religious service members face, it’s not all bad news. Big things are happening in favor of faith in America’s military.
In the past few months, the administration made important changes to prioritize religious liberty for our service members and veterans.
The White House published its National Security Strategy, underscoring the importance of protecting the First Amendment rights of those who fight and serve to protect us.
“The purpose of the American government is to secure the God-given natural rights of American citizens,” the document states. “The rights of free speech, freedom of religion and of conscience, and the right to choose and steer our common government are core rights that must never be infringed.”
In December, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced reforms that restore the freedom and importance of military chaplains.
“In an atmosphere of political correctness and secular humanism, chaplains have been minimized, viewed by many as therapists instead of ministers,” Sec. Hegseth said in a video posted on X.
“There will be a top-down cultural shift, putting spiritual wellbeing on the same footing as mental and physical health, as a first step toward creating a supportive environment for our warriors and their souls,” he added.
The U.S. Department of Justice also issued new guidance that the Department of Veterans Affairs will no longer require employees to offer abortion services to veterans.
But why is it so important that servicemembers’ expressions of faith are protected? Because “religious liberty is a very foundation stone of American security,” explains First Liberty Senior Counsel, Chris Motz, writing for First Things.
“Throughout its history, faith has been the sinew binding America’s might,” Motz continues. “In recent memory, this pillar vanished. Outright religious discrimination in the armed forces has been well-documented.”
Motz points to a 2023 Heritage Foundation poll, which reported decreased trust in the military among a vast majority of active-duty service members. 80% of those surveyed said their confidence waned because of policies aimed at forcing woke ideology on troops. 70% said that politicization would make them less likely to encourage their children to serve.
Motz, however, says the administration’s approach and policy changes offer hope for the future of religious freedom in the armed forces.
“In reclaiming faith’s urgency, the 2025 NSS articulates a framework that offers the world not dominion, but a model, a nation strong enough to defend liberty—especially religious liberty—and wise enough to seek peace,” Motz concluded.
In his recent testimony to the Commission, First Liberty Senior Counsel Mike Berry shared from his experience as a constitutional attorney and an officer in the Marines, saying “since the founding, our leaders have recognized that spiritual fitness strengthens our military.”
Religious liberty is in the DNA of America’s military. Faith has played a central role throughout our nation’s history, back to the Founding Era when George Washington requested chaplains to support the Continental Army in the fight for independence.
Today, religious exercise in the armed forced is still going strong. A congressional report found that approximately 73% of all military service members identify as people of faith, and they attend religious services weekly or more at twice the rate as their civilian counterparts. The men and women who serve in uniform continue to draw strength, courage and inspiration from their faith as they fight for the rights and freedoms that we cherish so dearly.
That’s why our mission here at First Liberty is to fight for those who fight for us. We are the first line of defense when service members are targeted and attacked for the very faith that inspires them to risk life and limb to safeguard our hard-won freedoms.
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