The Obama administration’s social experimentation with the military and affront on faith is forcing thousands of Christian servicemen and woman to reconsider their career choice — assuming they haven’t already been given the boot. It’s also giving pause to prospects who are otherwise anxious to enlist.

The Liberty Institute’s Michael Berry, whose team works with many of the clients caught up in religious discrimination lawsuits, told The Washington Times, “People of faith are going to stay away from the military. I can’t tell you how many moms and dads I’ve spoken to who say, ‘My son or daughter wants to join the military, [but] in light of what you’ve described, I’m not sure I want to let them join the military anymore.’ And I don’t blame them. I would have serious reservations about my own kids joining.” And absent fundamental changes, the future doesn’t bode well. “The problem is getting worse, not better, despite our efforts,” he added. “There is a culture [of] hostility [toward] religion in the military right now.”

Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty president Douglas Lee echoed Mr. Berry’s concerns, telling the Times, “I know people who get out, officers and chaplains, who’ve said, ‘I can’t serve the way I want to in this environment.’ People who’ve said, ‘Because of the religious liberty challenges I see, I think I’ll serve somewhere else.’”

Their apprehension is hardly irrational. Just recently, Lt. Commander Wes Modder, a Navy chaplain, was reprimanded for the outrageous act of performing his job duties. There’s a war alright — and it’s not just on the battlefields of the Middle East. If we can’t defend religious liberty, we can’t defend America.