- Former Air Force chaplain Curt Cizek

tells me his military careerstarted going downhill

after his sermon that included scriptures

about sexual immorality.

He says never before had hebeen punished for preaching.

Now he's hoping Christianswill stand with him.

- Men put so much of who they are

into what it is that they do.

And having that rugpulled out underneath me,

was very difficult to go through.

- [Eric] Former AirForce chaplain Curt Cizek

is unapologetic about preaching the word.

One Sunday in 2013,

at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio,

he says that stance lead to trouble.

- The message was about sin

that we don't think is that bad.

If you're having sex with somebody

that you're not marriedto, then you need to stop.

I said, sometimes the Christian Church

has gotten a reputationfor being prejudice.

And because we look atone sin, homo- sexuality,

and then we turn a blind eye,

and don't say anythingabout heterosexual sin.

And that's hypocritical.

- [Eric] What happened nextturned into a domino effect

that ended with his involuntary discharge.

- I found out shortly thereafter

that a lesbian trainee had made

a complaint about the sermon.

She complained that I had said

that all homosexualswere gonna burn in hell.

I don't know what sermon she listened to,

because it wasn't whatI preached that day.

- [Eric] 2500 traineesheard that day's sermon

and Cizek says as far as he knows,

only one person complained.

- We also had an openly lesbian commander

working in basic training.

And when she heard aboutthe trainee's complaint,

she wouldn't let it go.

My performance reports were downgraded,

my promotion recommendationwas downgraded,

I got passed over for promotion twice

and involuntarily separatedfrom the Air Force in 2016.

- [Eric] That means even withalmost 30 years of service,

nearly 20 of them active duty,

he cannot retire from the Air Force.

Cizek says while it's a net loss

of more than a million dollars

in pension and health benefits,he sees a bigger issue.

- Even if I did say whatshe said that I said,

it's covered by my first amendment rights

to preach and teach accordingto my religious beliefs.

Either we believe that everybody

has first amendment rights, or we don't.

- All he wants to do is serveGod and serve his country.

That's all he wants to do.

- [Eric] Paul Platte is Cizek's Attorney.

- Air Force regulations specifically

allowed him to give that type of sermon.

The First Amendment protectshis freedom of speech

and freedom of religion.

So quite frankly, wethink it's preposterous

what happened to him.

- [Eric] They say the AirForce never put in writing

that the sermon caused thepoor performance reports,

but instead accused Cizek ofviolating unrelated protocols.

He denies that, and after appealing

to the highest levels of the Air Force,

this is what he received.

- Here at the top of the page, it says.

"The reasons for the decision",

and then they blank outeverything explaining

the reasons for his decision,

but we know why because he was disciplined

three days after he gave thesermon about sexual immorality.

- [Eric] CBN news reached outto the Air Force for comment

and officials sent this statement,

which says in part,

"The applicant, Curt Cizek,

"alleges he has beenthe victim of reprisal.

"Based on the board's review,

"they do not conclude the applicant

"has been the victim of reprisal.

"The board maintains the applicant

"has failed to establish that."

Cizek reached out to law makersand even the White House.

The vice president's office referred

Cizek's case to the Air Force board

for correction of militaryrecords for reconsideration.

But officials thererefused to reopen his case.

Now the Department of Defenseinspector general's office

is looking into it.

Cizek hopes Christians wholearn of this will sound off.

- We need some encouragementfrom fellow believers.

- This is a time for conservativeChristians to be heard,

letting their legislators,

letting the White House,letting the Air Force,

letting the Secretary ofDefense know how they feel.

The real intolerance isnot speaking the truth.

The real intolerance is preventing people

from speaking the truth.

That's the real intolerance

and bigotry that existsin our country today.

- Now that it appears changeis coming to the White House,

Cizek isn't sure a Biden administration

would be as sympathetic to his cause.

That's why he says time is of essence

for Christians to speak out.

In Washington, Eric Phillips, CBN News.