James Yee: A Search That Began by Admitting What He Did Not Know

James Yee grew up in New Jersey in a Lutheran setting, then entered the United States Military Academy at West Point and graduated in 1990. He did not present his upbringing as wholly detached from religion, but said Islam was not something he had studied or understood well enough to judge. ^{[JY-S1, JY-S3, JY-S4]}

After graduation, he entered an interfaith discussion about religious doctrine. At first he resisted the comparison because he had been raised to believe in the Trinity. Then he faced a methodological question: how could he judge something he did not know? He acknowledged that he had never studied Islam and decided to read before returning to the conversation. ^[JY-S1]

Through reading and discussion, he encountered Islam’s teaching of worshipping one God and of prophets throughout history carrying the message of divine oneness. He found this clear and recognized links with what he had learned in his Christian background. In a later account he also spoke of the value of religious and ethnic diversity. ^{[JY-S1, JY-S4]}

He converted to Islam in 1991. ^{[JY-S3, JY-S4]}

His Army deployment to Saudi Arabia and his visit to Mecca came later in 1991, after his conversion. He said the Mecca visit showed him the need for Muslim chaplaincy in the Army and led him to consider that path. He left active duty in 1993 and began studying Arabic and Islam in Syria in 1995. ^{[JY-S2, JY-S3, JY-S4]}

He returned to the Army as a Muslim chaplain in 2001. His path thus moved from an ethical question about judging an unfamiliar religion, through study of monotheism and prophecy, into extended learning and religious service. ^{[JY-S2, JY-S3, JY-S4]}

Sources

1. JY-S1 — Yee: Democracy Now Interview, University of California, Davis. University-hosted direct interview transcript.
2. JY-S2 — Podcast: “Falsely accused of being a spy” — former Chaplain James Yee, Courage to Resist. Dated direct interview transcript, 10 May 2021.
3. JY-S3 — James Yee — About the Author, Hachette Book Group. Publisher author biography.
4. JY-S4 — From Prison Chaplain to Imprisoned Chaplain, Asian American Writers’ Workshop. Dated first-person interview, 14 July 2017.

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