US Army soldiers to receive mandatory religious training

"Spiritual readiness must be leader-driven at every echelon," says the Army's new Spiritual Fitness Guide, which is required for all soldiers

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An army that carries the Ark before it is invincible.
— Marcus Brody, Raiders of the Lost Ark

Nothing is more dreaded than the national government meddling with religion.
— John Adams

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.
— Blaise Pascal

I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.
— George Carlin

In a first for the US military, the US Army has just released the Spiritual Fitness Guide (2025), basically the textbook for the religious training that all Army soldiers will be required to take from now on. It is described as:

The Army Spiritual Fitness Guide (2025) is a groundbreaking resource that equips Soldiers and leaders to build inner strength for the rigors of war and life. Rooted in doctrine and battle-tested wisdom, it defines spiritual fitness as essential to holistic readiness and provides a clear framework for developing purpose, resilience, and identity. With principles drawn from combat sustainment doctrine, four stages of personal growth, and actionable strategies for leaders at every echelon, this guide reclaims the spiritual domain as vital terrain for leader engagement and mission success. Whether religious or not, every Soldier will find tools here to strengthen their will to fight and the spirit to endure.

It is — as your initial impression probably warned you — wildly unconstitutional. The constitutionality of religious practices in the Army did once go to the Supreme Court, and it won (Katcoff v. Marsh (1985)). But that does not allow this program. This Supreme Court decision found that military chaplain programs do not violate the Establishment Clause; it said nothing at all about religious training for soldiers.

It’s not the first time religious leaders have tried to indoctrinate soldiers. 14 years ago, the Army’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program's "spiritual fitness" component faced legal challenges from all sides, on the basis that it required soldiers to declare belief in a deity in order to be fit for duty. If they failed to do so, they were sent to remedial spiritual training (basically Sunday School).

Pages 52-53 of the guide repeat this test — only today, it’s much more carefully worded, in an apparent effort to avoid the appearance of illegality. Basically it avoids naming any religions. The words Jesus, Christian, and Muslim do not appear in the text — despite the flagrant obviousness that that’s what the whole thing’s about. (God and Jewish do each get a single mention.)

I was reminded of Seinfeld episode S04E11 “The Contest” which was entirely about masturbation — without ever mentioning the word.

The core of the program’s unconstitutionality is the fact that this training is mandatory — soldiers are required to receive the religious teachings, taught by chaplains who are overwhelmingly Christian.

Here is the religious test from the guide (sorry it’s so small):