Religion
Military to Relax Rules on Religion, Allow Religious Tattoos
[The Christian Post]
The Pentagon is expected to announce that it will be relaxing rules for religious wear in the military, allowing service members to wear some religious tattoos, turbans, beards, or yarmulkes, as long as the item does not interfere with carrying out a military mission.
The announcement states that the new policy adopted by the Department of Defense will require the military to accommodate the “individual expressions of sincerely held beliefs” of service members. The directive goes on to state that unless a religious item interferes with a service member’s readiness, safety, or order, service members may be granted permission by their commanders to display their religious items while wearing their uniform.
“[…] the importance of uniformity and adhering to standards, of putting unit before self, is more significant and needs to be carefully evaluated when considering each request for accommodation,” the Pentagon statement states.
The new policy caters to Sikhs, Muslims, Wiccans, Jews, and Christian service members. Those wishing to wear special religious attire must have the item re-approved whenever they switch assignments or start a new deployment. While some forms of religious wear can be approved by commanders, other situations will be passed up to a higher command.
