Reply #6: Violations of Don't Ask, Don't Tell end in discharges if not worse.

[JDPriestly]

Where will this act of defiance end? He has the right to appear on the show and to say what he wants. He just can't do it in uniform. This was purposely done to put Obama on the spot. This man is a disgrace to his country. He has violated his oath to our country by insulting his service.

Mind you, the problem is not his religious conviction. That is wonderful. He is free to have his religious beliefs as I am to have mine. What is wrong is that he is appearing in his official uniform to endorse his religion. He is thereby using the power of his office as a uniformed officer in the U.S. military to endorse a specific religious belief. That is not right.

I often wonder why the religious right can't understand the fact that by violating the separation of church and state, they endanger their own right to religious freedom. At this time, by far the majority of Americans are Christian, so the Christians feel safe in imposing their religion on others, but there is no guarantee that they will always be in the majority. That is shy Jesus told us to do unto other as we would have them do unto us.

How would this man feel if an officer of his rank were to appear in his military uniform on a Muslim television show?