Say “No” to Removing the Army’s Top Chaplain
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. ”
American Christians should not encourage or celebrate the concept of the United States as a Christian nation. “Christian nation” implies that people of other or no religious expression are excluded or somehow less than. We’ve watched the sick concept of Christian nationalism rear its ugly head, manipulating and excluding those who are not part of their narrow description of “Christian.” If we continue to encourage “Christian nation” talk, our free democracy will remain threatened.
In the past few months, the present United States Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, according to USA Today’s Brieanna J. Frank’s (April 25, 2026) article “Pete Hegseth’s ouster of Army’s top chaplain leaves ‘enormous gap’”, announced the dismissal of the Army chief of chaplains. According to Frank, “The removal of the Army’s top chaplain was ‘extraordinarily odd,’ one expert said, and a former high-ranking chaplain said (Major Gen. William Green Jr) Green’s removal leaves an ‘enormous gap’ for the Army.” Frank continues, “The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has received ‘several scores’ of complaints from service members ‘infuriated’ by Green’s removal.” No one’s religious expression is safe when a new political official can walk and deem another’s faith is no longer acceptable.
Frank points out that Major General “Green became an Army chaplain in 1994 after being endorsed by the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., the oldest and largest Black Baptist denomination in the country. The denomination emphasizes African Americans’ dignity and liberation.” Maj. Gen. Green’s termination was not for cause, except for the cause of diminishing African American leaders, and those denominations that do not fit the extremely narrow Christian Nationalism line.
I am confident that Westminster Presbyterian Church, Des Moines, and the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc, would not agree on all ethical and theological matters. Yet, we should all stand in solidarity with Maj. Gen. Green’s right to finish serving in his position. If a Baptist clergyperson is no longer acceptable, who is next? Too often, those included do not reflect on those excluded, until they, too, are no longer included. Pray, speak out, and reach out, because Christians are bound not by nation, but by the will of our living God, who expects us all to strive for equality of all God’s children, not just Americans who pass the Secretary of Defense’s narrow definition. If we do not speak out, God’s inclusive truth might be lost or damaged for generations.
