At Nellis Air Force Base last week, pilots were gathered around a different kind of runway. That’s because the southern Nevada post, home to one of the most advanced air combat programs in the service, made the controversial decision to host its first-ever drag queen show. To the amusement of America’s enemies, some of our most skilled servicemen and women spent their Thursday night “discover[ing] the significance of drag in the LGBT+ community” at a base club — a lesson sure to please their transgender activist-in-chief.

Welcome to the Biden military: you can’t have a Bible on the table, but you can have heels in your footlocker. An Air Force veteran posted a picture of the digital flyer over the weekend, which read, “DRAG-U-NELLIS” and “CLASS IS IN SESSION” surrounded by pictures of Coco Montrese, Makena Knight, and Alexis Mateo. “I guess the airmen at Nellis have completely mastered air and ground combat, so they can relax with an event that has grown men in dresses twerking; very cool!” he tweeted.

When Breitbart asked for comment, Nellis officials seemed almost proud of the fact that they were hosting this kind of gathering. They confirmed that, yes, the 99th Air Base Wing held the event and explained that it was sponsored by a private organization. But the spokesperson insisted that it was important to “provid[e] an opportunity for attendees to learn more about the history and significance of drag performance art within the LGBT+ community.” Inclusivity, the official went on, “is essential to the morale, cohesion, and readiness of the military. Nellis Air Force Base is committed to providing and championing an environment that is characterized by equal opportunity, diversity and inclusion.”

No doubt our mastery of the catwalk will strike terror in the hearts of Iran and China, where leaders must be looking on with glee at this administration’s social preoccupations. According to the base website, Nellis is where pilots undergo “the most demanding… air combat training in the country.” North Korea will be relieved to know that this sophisticated training has taken a backseat to nights of transgender frolicking. But then, that’s all this administration has had on its radar since taking over. Like Barack Obama, Biden has never seen our troops as anything but a force for social change.

Of course, the irony is that while the military defends drag queen acts on military installations, they aren’t extending Christians troops the same tolerance. At least two active-duty service members — Lt. Colonel Matthew Lohmeire and Chaplain Andrew Calvert — have been fired or suspended in the last few weeks for daring to talk openly about the Pentagon’s new policies. “My Republican colleagues and I hear regularly from active duty and retired service members that even holding conservative values is now enough to endanger a service member’s military career,” Rep. Mike Rogers (Ala.) told Politico. He and his GOP colleagues are racing to put together legislation that would combat the wave of targeting and censorship.

In the meantime, conservatives watch helplessly as the proud warfighting ethos that Donald Trump restored is replaced with a circus of LGBT activism. Just ask yourself: when was the last time you read a headline about the military that actually had to do with national defense? Instead, we’re talking about climate change, extremism “stand downs,” critical race theory, rainbow flags, and maternity flight suits. The Defense Department, NRO’s John Rossomando warns, is a case study in “misplaced priorities rooted in myths.” It’s a woke military focused on politics, not “lethality and readiness,” one former undersecretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush argued. “It will excel in virtue signaling and fail at winning battles…” Including the one for the heart and soul of America’s proud fighting force.

Originally published here.

Dems Float Church-Exempt Status

Yet again, Democrats are outraged to discover that religious beliefs actually impact people’s actions. In the latest dust-up, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted 168-55 on Friday to proceed with a draft document “on the meaning of the Eucharist in the life of the Church” that, when finalized, may deny the Eucharist to politicians who support abortion. Representative Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) tweeted in response, “If they’re going to politically weaponize religion by ‘rebuking’ Democrats who support women’s reproductive choice, then a ‘rebuke’ of their tax-exempt status may be in order.” You read that right: a sitting congressman casually suggested repealing the tax-exempt status of one of the largest religious organizations in America because they are upholding biblical truth.

Among the least religious congressmen, Huffman describes himself as a humanist and said in a 2017 interview, “I suppose you could say I don’t believe in God,” but pro-abortion Catholic politicians have more to lose. In a letter, nearly 60 House Democrats complained about the bishop’s Eucharist vote. Last year a priest denied the Eucharist to then-presidential candidate Joe Biden because he supports abortion; the bishops’ document could make that official Catholic policy. If push comes to shove, it seems these Democratic politicians care more about defending abortion than about being Catholic, since they are willing to openly defy their church’s moral authority to protect their political agenda. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) tweeted a list of policies he supports despite Catholic teachings, brazenly concluding “I dare you to deny me Communion.” If these politicians disagree with the Catholic church on so much, why do they bother remaining tied to it? If you disagree with a religion’s central teachings, then you can go find a more agreeable church or just drop it; that’s the essence of religious freedom.

The truth is, religious identities aren’t meaningless titles. They have real beliefs and demand real compliance from their followers. The Catholic church and most protestant denominations have long taught that abortion is sin. The Catholic church’s Canon law holds that those “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.” Protestants, too, recognize Jesus instructed his disciples in Matthew 18 that those who refuse to listen to the church and repent are to be expelled from the communion of believers. I only wish protestants displayed as much courage as Catholics in confronting the greatest moral evil of our time.

Democrats pretending outrage at the Catholic bishops’ abortion stance know, but don’t care, that it teaches abortion is sin. They want to excise issues of morality like abortion from the church’s realm and insert them into the political realm. In fact, they have made politics their new religion, complete with new morality and ethics (determined by polls), a new gospel (power), and new mechanisms for evangelism (the mainstream media) and excommunication (cancel culture). They wish people motivated and driven by their religious convictions would stay out of politics, or at least leave their religion at the door. They want the church to be subservient to the state, existing merely at the state’s pleasure, as a convenient mechanism for accomplishing state-directed purposes. They will permit a “form of godliness” as long as they can deny its power — much like China’s official socialist churches.

Fortunately, the Constitution clearly proscribes such governmental overreach into religious affairs. The First Amendment not only recognizes a right to the free exercise of religion, but also a right to free association — including the right not to associate. If Congress attempts to punish a religious organization for disassociating itself from politicians whose behavior denies the church’s core beliefs, that would clearly violate both of these constitutional rights.

Originally published here.

This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.