God and Country

Kate Donovan posted text from interviews she conducted with atheists at the US Naval Academy as part of a series on atheists in the US military academies.  The text is interesting as an overview of the midshipmen’s group, but what is fascinating is the mature perspective from some of the mids:

…the paperwork process is slow for all groups, regardless of whether people like our group or not…

…Although our group has not been “official” for this past year — it was due to the fact that all prospective ECA’s must submit paperwork for official review every year in April — no other opportunities are afforded, our group included.

We can host events, but just have to go through the same bureaucracy as everyone else on that…

The theme is consistent:  The mids recognize they are subject to Read more…

Despite claims that religious groups get favored or undue access to US military installations, the US military hosts many more non-religious events to support its troops.  Fort Carson recently hosted the Lt Dan Band, led by Gary Sinise, which seemed to be well-attended despite the inclement weather:  Read more…

US Navy Chaplain (LtCmdr) Abuhena Saifulislam was recently part of US Central Command’s Exercise Eager Lion 12, where he was able to work with the Jordanian military and their religious leaders.

 He

got a first-hand look at how other countries handle Read more…

A US Army article previously described an effort to help the Afghans by “turning swords into plowshares,” a potentially inadvertent reference to Isaiah 2:4.  While the text of the Bible is not as well-known as it may have once been, it is interesting to see where the American culture makes (even unknowing) Biblical references.

The US Air Force leadership did it recently, too, in their annual Memorial Day message.  Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen Norton Schwartz wrote:  Read more…

The US Air Force has assigned Col Jeannie Leavitt, an F-15E Strike Eagle pilot, to be the commander of the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.  She is the first female to command a fighter wing.

The Liberty Institute launched a campaign called “Don’t Tear Me Down” aimed at protecting military memorials.  (While the push is new, the effort has been ongoing for some time.) The effort is initially focused on the Mount Soledad cross, but they accurately note the attacks on memorials could have a far wider impact:

“The ACLU is so driven to purge religious displays from the public Read more…

PFC Naser Abdo, the Islamic US Soldier turned conscientious objector turned bomb plotter, has been convicted of attempting to bomb a local Fort Hood restaurant and kill his fellow soldiers.

A federal jury Thursday convicted Abdo, a Muslim soldier, on six charges in connection with his failed plot to blow up a Texas restaurant full of Fort Hood troops, his religious mission to get “justice” for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.

His confessed motivation?  Religion.  Read more…

According to MSNBC, the VMFA-122 Crusaders were “ordered to reverse” their decision to return to the “Crusaders” moniker.

“The deputy commandant for aviation [Lt. Gen. Terry Robling] directed VMFA 122 to maintain the unit identification as the Werewolves,” said Marines public information officer Lt. Col. Joseph Plenzler. “I called down there to confirm that they have changed the tail markings, squadron patches” and other places the squadron logo appears, he said.

The Marines gave no reason for the order, giving Michael Weinstein — who had called the Marines a “national security threat” for the move — the blood in the water he needed to claim victory and make further demands:  Read more…

Members of the US military have defended human liberty, at the cost of their own lives, around the globe.

They have protected people they don’t know, rights they often can’t practice, and the freedom of others to advocate ideologies with which they disagree.

They have fought, and died, for something greater than themselves.

Remember their sacrifice this Memorial Day.

From the President:

Today, we join together in prayer Read more…

The Department of Defense recently pulled courses from the Joint Forces Staff College that allegedly disparaged Islam.  Michael Weinstein tilted the irony meter with this response:

“This is simply a small cancer cell that is rapidly metastasizing,” he said. “This is representative of a larger more sinister force which is fundamentalist Christianity.”

To summarize the erroneously but self-described “religious freedom” advocate: Its wrong to paint Islam with a broad, stereotypical brush, but its ok to do the same thing to Christianity.  So says the man who decries characterizations of America being “at war” with Islam, but who himself is at “war” with Christians.

Weinstein’s apparent lack of cognitive dissonance Read more…

The Christian Post reviews The Avengers and makes an interesting observation about the faith of the rising leader of the group, Captain America:

When Thor shows up and takes Loki, Iron Man goes after him. Cap begins to follow but is urged not to because “these guys are basically gods.” In response, Cap makes a fitting statement for his character and era that I’m amazed Hollywood allowed: “There’s only One God, Ma’am. And I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.”

The fairly long review goes into great depth on the character of Steve Rogers, noting the value of his morality and integrity, and how it is his strength of Read more…

In his zeal to attack all things Christian in the military, Justin Griffith — the Army Sergeant made famous by his organization of Rock Beyond Belief at Fort Bragg — once harassed the wives of deployed Fort Bragg soldiers.  Even when he realized he’d made an error — he’d thought he was criticizing the soldiers themselves, as if that’s better — he never publicly apologized.

Now, it seems he’s after the support provided to wounded warriors.  Read more…

Dr. Russell Moore, Dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has an interesting and lengthy response to a chaplain’s letter asking if its ok not to pray in Jesus Name — one of the points of controversy for chaplains in the US military:

Praying in Jesus’ name isn’t simply a cultural addendum at the end of a request…We pray in Jesus’ name because Jesus commanded us to do so (Jn. 14:13)…

Moore notes that men of faith are expected to pray in accordance with their faith.  No one expects a Muslim to pray like an Episcopalian, just Read more…

Matthew Hutson at the Huffington Post has an interesting article on the research conducted by the University of Otago in New Zealand which attempted to quantify the effect of the threat of death on supernatural belief.  In other words, is it true there are no atheists in foxholes?

The researchers used a “supernatural belief scale” to try to quantify the spiritual beliefs of test subjects:

In their first study, they asked subjects to write about what will happen to them when they die, or what happens when they watch TV. Then Read more…

In what seems to be an annual event, another effort has been made in Congress to ban the Defense Department’s ability to sponsor teams or players in professional sporting events.

The $608 billion defense bill that passed the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday includes an amendment to prohibit Pentagon spending on NASCAR, professional fishing and professional wrestling events.

US Rep Betty McCollum (D-Minn) proposed the Read more…