In a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Senator Ted Cruz accused the United States Defense Department of engaging in religious discrimination, asking the Secretary how the department planned to address its “culture of hostility towards religion.” This letter comes as a follow up on the DOD’s failure to respond to a letter sent from Sen. Cruz in June of this year.

“The Department must do better. It must take affirmative steps to stop those in its ranks from targeting religious individuals and violating the United States Constitution,” Cruz wrote. 

The Texas senator inquired about the cancellation of a presentation by a Christian Air Force veteran, retired Lt. Col. Jay Lorenzen, who was scheduled to speak at an annual training for Marine Corps reservists last month. The talk was cancelled after the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) relayed concerns from its reservist clients about how Lorenzen’s beliefs might influence his remarks. Senator Cruz specifically noted that Lorenzen was apparently vetted for his religious beliefs and inquired as to what disciplinary proceedings were being taken against the person who “unlawfully prohibited” Lorenzo from speaking.

Cruz had previously called out the MRFF as a group "waging a campaign against the chaplaincy, and frankly, against religious freedom in the military generally." However, their President, Michael Weinstein, maintained that a number of JAGs filed complaints about Lorenzen and that he was doing his job by representing the “just under 70,000 active-duty sailors, soldiers, Marines, airmen, cadets, midshipmen, DoD civilian personnel, and veterans." 

Weinstein went on to say that Cruz's remarks were "ridiculous" and "nothing more than red meat being thrown to the fundamentalist Christian electorate that's out there."

News Sources: