“That defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” - Matthew 15:11.

I am not truly a religious person, but occasionally I find a snippet of truth amongst the writings of the Bible, this being a case in point. However, even this saying is only true to a certain point, for that which we absorb in childhood informs our opinions later in life. If we poison our children with prejudices and bigotry, if we teach them falsehoods and lies, then we truly reap that which we sow.

But, it is that which spews forth from the mouths of the ignorant bigots in power. and the craven sycophants who surround them, which defiles our country.

As a field grade officer in the US Navy, I swore an oath “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” I also swore, “that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.” This oath, coupled with the UCMJ (the Uniform Code of Military Justice), obligates me to follow the laws and regulations outlined within it.

The UCMJ outlines every service member’s obligation to carry out lawful orders, and the manual for courts-martial further expands on the subject, with the point boiling down to the fact that every service member has an obligation to disobey unlawful orders. There is no nuance to it — if any service member receives an order that is unlawful, they must refuse to execute it. If not, they are just as complicit in the illegality of it as the person who ordered them to do it. Every time I raised my right hand, I was reminding myself, regardless of how small or minimal I felt my individual contributions to the military may have been, that, ultimately, regardless of clime or place, as the Marines like to say, I was obligated to uphold the values and principles of our nation through my service to our country.

It is inherent in every service member’s oath that they will, when presented with an unlawful order, disobey it. It is not just an assumption, but a requirement. The most significant role, however, belongs to the leaders, whether they are commissioned, non-commissioned, or warrant officers. The officers appointed over our most junior enlisted service members have a duty to refuse unlawful orders not just for inarguable legal, ethical, and moral reasons, but also to ensure that the most junior service members they lead are not left to make that call. As officers, we have a moral duty to protect our sailors, our Marines, and our soldiers from any illegal order issued by those above us - whether military or civilian.

The obligation to refuse unlawful orders does not change depending on where you are. Whether you are operating domestically or abroad, the obligations and requirements of the oath and the UCMJ remain the same. Whether you are an active-duty Naval officer on a ship in the Caribbean or a National Guard member in Washington DC, it remains the same. There is no quibbling, no prevarication, your oath and the UCMJ require that you refuse ALL unlawful orders, no matter how high their origin. Just as you are required to obey the lawful orders of those appointed above you, you are obligated to refuse any and all illegal orders.

I mention this to shed light on just how craven our current President and his administration have become. Six brave Democratic members of Congress speak out, simply quoting the UCMJ regulations regarding the requirement to refuse to obey illegal orders, and Trump accuses them of sedition and traitorous activity. There was no traitorous or seditious action on their part; rather, a simple reminder of the oath taken by every single member of the US Military. And now we have the FBI under Patel probing their activities, and the Pentagon under Hegseth threatening to recall Mark Kelly to active duty for court-marshal proceedings.

These words, these actions, this is the proof of what defiles a man. Not the brave actions of Kelly and his compatriots, but rather the craven threats of Trump and his ilk.