OPINION:
It is fortunate that the Marine Corps was able to recognize Cpl. Monifa Sterling’s workstation placards for what they actually were: a threat to discipline and good order (“Military court upholds Marine’s bad conduct discharge over Bible verses,” Web, Aug. 11). Cpl. Sterling could not be permitted to express her faith in such a blatant manner, and was apparently deemed unworthy of a modicum of common decency and consideration on the part of her supervisor.
Displaying “handmade placards inscribed with various Bible verses,” being the subversive tracts that they are, would hinder Marine Corps operations and esprit de corps. Better to brand Cpl. Sterling with a dishonorable discharge than apply competent management techniques to a situation that could have been resolved without injury to either party.
So Ms. Sterling will resume civilian life shadowed by a dishonorable discharge while the supervisor who orchestrated Ms. Sterling’s departure remains in place, free to drag her big, heavy club to the next office kerfuffle. If this is how the Marine Corps mitigates benign office difficulties, what do they do when a real problem comes along? Roll out the Howitzer?
JOHN M. DANIEL
Leonardtown, Md.
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