To the Secretary of Defense, the Department of Defense, and the Members of the United States Congress:

I served twenty years in the United States Army and retired as a Sergeant First Class. Like millions of Americans before me, I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That oath was not given to one religion, one political party, or one ideology. It was given to the Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees to every American.

One of those freedoms is the free exercise of religion and the freedom of conscience.

Recently, the Department of Defense reduced its list of recognized religious affiliation codes from more than 200 to a much smaller number of administrative categories. While the Department has explained that this change was made for administrative purposes, many service members and veterans are concerned that the decision may unintentionally diminish the visibility and recognition of minority faiths and beliefs within our Armed Forces.

This petition is not about giving special treatment to any religion.

It is not about promoting Paganism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Native traditions, Humanism, atheism, or any other belief system above another.

It is about ensuring that every American who volunteers to defend our nation knows that his or her sincerely held beliefs are treated with equal dignity and respect.

During my military career, I openly practiced the Pagan faith. I experienced firsthand what it felt like to have my beliefs overlooked when, after informing a chaplain of my faith, he prayed according to his own religious tradition rather than asking how I wished to be comforted. I chose not to complain because I understood the mission always came first. I also respect every person's right to practice their own faith.

However, no service member should ever wonder whether their beliefs matter less because they belong to a minority faith or hold no religious belief at all.

The strength of the United States military has always come from Americans of every background serving together under one Constitution. Our diversity has never weakened us—it has strengthened us. Christians have stood beside Jews. Muslims beside atheists. Pagans beside Catholics. Believers beside nonbelievers. What united us was never identical beliefs; it was our shared commitment to defending the freedoms of every American.

Military service already requires extraordinary sacrifice. We accept restrictions on many personal freedoms under the Uniform Code of Military Justice because discipline and readiness are essential to our mission. The equal recognition of sincerely held religious beliefs and matters of conscience should not become another sacrifice.

We respectfully ask the Department of Defense to review its current policy and restore comprehensive recognition of the diverse faiths and belief systems represented throughout our Armed Forces. We also ask Congress to exercise its oversight responsibility to ensure that every service member's constitutional right to religious liberty and freedom of conscience continues to be protected without preference or prejudice.

Our request is simple:

Restore comprehensive religious affiliation options that accurately reflect the diversity of those who serve.
Ensure that chaplains and military leadership continue to support all service members with equal dignity and respect.
Reaffirm the Department of Defense's commitment to the First Amendment and to the equal treatment of every service member, regardless of faith or belief.
Preserve the principle that the United States military serves the Constitution above all else.
This petition is offered in a spirit of unity, not division.

Whether you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Pagan, Native American, Humanist, atheist, agnostic, or hold another sincerely held belief, this issue belongs to all of us. Religious liberty loses its meaning if it protects only the beliefs of the majority.

The freedoms we defend overseas should never become smaller for those who defend them at home.

If you believe every American who serves our nation deserves equal respect under the Constitution, I respectfully ask you to sign this petition and share it with others.

Respectfully,

Cherie Shugrue
Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army (Retired)

Christian Military Personnel Coming Forward on MRFF press release. 

From: (Active duty enlisted member/MRFF client's email address withheld)

Subject: Commander’s crisis Christian prayer phone tree

Date: July 21, 2026 at 9:02:03 AM MDT

To: Information Weinstein <mikey@militaryreligiousfreedom.org>

Mr. Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation,

Thank you for providing helpful advice when we called you yesterday.

We are both active duty enlisted members of the United States (military branch withheld) newly stationed at (military installation withheld).

Having just PCS’ed there we were going through the normal in-processing and onboarding process at our new unit assignment here when this jacked up thing happened.

Administrative staff of our command section asked us each if we wanted to be placed on the “commander’s crisis prayer phone tree”. Even though both of us happen to be Christians but we were taken aback by this question as we in processed. 

We asked what this “crisis prayer phone tree” thing was and we were told that “our commander is a man of the Lord”. And since the commander knows everything going on in the unit when something bad happens the commander goes to the phone tree “to ask for the Lord’s blessings and collective prayers to help those going through any sort of bad times”. It was more than obvious that the only religion associated with this so-called “crisis phone tree” was Christian by the many statements made by the command section administrative staff. (For instance they told us that our commander sponsors a weekly bible study open to all troops in his conference room during the lunch hour.) They were trying very hard to convince us to sign up for this phone tree.

Now this might sounds like it would be nice but both myself and my fellow (military branch member name withheld) were pissed and insulted as this was clearly an attempt just as we joined this unit to make sure we were Christians in synch with I guess our commander’s obvious Christian religious views.

I declined to sign up for this phone tree but my fellow (military branch member name withheld) did it because he said he “didn’t want any trouble on the first day” here in our unit. He was the one who actually suggested that we reach out to Mr. Weinstein and the MRFF for advice here. As he had done several years ago on another matter similar to this involving Christian religious views in his unit at that time.

We both very much want to thank the MRFF for fighting so hard for the rights of our military members not to have to face the burden of a commander’s influence on our personal religious views.

If there is any blowback for my decision not to sign up for this list I will contact Mr. Weinstein immediately.

Please do not reveal any of our identification or contact information. But we wanted to send in this note so that others can see what is happening in our military and it is just plain wrong!

(All ID information of active duty enlisted member/MRFF client withheld)

 

“The Purge Has Begun”

From: (Active Duty U.S. Military Christian Chaplain and MRFF Client’s email withheld)

Subject: The Purge Has Begun

Date: July 16, 2026 at 11:13:36 AM PDT

To: Mikey Weinstein <mikey@militaryreligiousfreedom.org>

Hi Mikey,

We’ve corresponded before, and I wanted to reach out because I believe the situation has become more concerning.

I’m still writing anonymously because I fear professional repercussions.

I’m becoming increasingly uncomfortable with how “Spiritual Fitness” is being promoted. Despite attempts to frame it as a neutral readiness initiative, Spiritual Fitness is now being presented as inherently religious. Chaplains are increasingly expected to promote it, and the pressure to support its current direction is becoming difficult to ignore.

What concerns me just as much is the atmosphere among senior chaplains. There appears to be an ongoing effort to determine whether subordinate chaplains ideologically align with the Secretary of Defense and the current leadership. No one says it directly, but it has become obvious in meetings and conversations. The messaging is consistent enough that many of us understand what is being rewarded and what is not.

The recently released memorandum changing the Chaplain Corps evaluation system has only intensified my concern.

On its face, I actually agree with the stated objective. Chaplains should be evaluated on ministry competencies rather than generalized officer metrics. However, the memorandum significantly expands the influence of supervisory chaplains over ministry evaluations and, ultimately, promotion potential.

Ordinarily, that might not concern me. But viewed alongside the current direction of Spiritual Fitness, I believe these developments reinforce one another. If those determining what constitutes “effective ministry” also expect alignment with a particular religious or ideological perspective, the evaluation system becomes more than a measure of ministry performance—it becomes a mechanism for shaping the future composition of the Chaplain Corps.

The Chaplain Corps has been here before. Cases such as Adair v. England, Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches v. Johnson/England, and In re Navy Chaplaincy arose from allegations that evaluations and promotions favored particular theological traditions. While those cases had varying legal outcomes, they demonstrate the institutional risks that emerge when career progression becomes intertwined with religious preferences.

My concern is that we are laying the groundwork for history to repeat itself.

I fear what begins as ideological alignment will eventually become a broader narrowing of who is considered acceptable within the Chaplain Corps. In my view, the first people likely to be affected are chaplains from racial minority backgrounds and minority faith traditions because they are already underrepresented and often lack institutional influence. If that occurs, I believe the narrowing could eventually extend to women who do not fit the preferred leadership model. History also suggests that movements seeking theological conformity rarely remain unified indefinitely. Once outside voices have been marginalized, disagreements often shift inward, and majority denominations begin competing among themselves over whose interpretation, doctrine, or ministry philosophy becomes the accepted standard.

I sincerely hope I’m wrong. But from my perspective, the combination of the Spiritual Fitness initiative and the new evaluation system appears to create a structure that could reward ideological conformity while discouraging theological and cultural diversity. That would be a profound shift for a Chaplain Corps whose mission is to provide for the free exercise of religion across a pluralistic force.

I wanted to make you aware of what I’m seeing firsthand. As always, I ask that you keep my identity strictly confidential.

Respectfully,

(Active Duty U.S. Military Christian Chaplain and MRFF Client’s personal identifiers all withheld)