God and Country

Chuck Colson has an interesting article on the culture in America, in both its changes and the Christian interaction with it (a topic he has covered before).  He notes the statement by then-Supreme Court Justice William Douglas:

We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being…When the state encourages religious instruction or cooperates with religious authorities…it follows the best of our traditions. For it then respects the religious nature of our people and accommodates the public service to their spiritual needs.

This case was followed Read more…

Alliance Defense Fund fellow Garrett Gibson poses an interesting question on the American paradigm of defending freedom:

There is an oft-repeated American cliche that freedom is not free. Below the surface of this cliche lies three implications: first, that we value freedom; second, that we are willing to pay the price demanded for the protection of freedom; and third, and most pertinent to this discussion, that we protect, with the force of law, the things we value.

Gibson notes the potential cultural implications of society’s move away from recognizing, and valuing, the virtues of religion:  Read more…

Former NASA Administrator and Secretary of the Navy Sean O’Keefe survived the plane crash that killed former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.  In recounting the ordeal, he noted but couldn’t explain the fact that he and his son survived while the others perished.

“The degree of separation between survival and not was a fraction of what you ever imagined. It could have been anybody,” O’Keefe said. “The randomness of this whole experience was such that any doubts you have about divine intervention go away.”

An editorial at the Colorado Springs Gazette had an interesting perspective on the comparative treatment of religions and the response by their respective adherents.  Wayne Laugesen writes that while Christianity is accused of trying to intolerantly dominate the world,

Christianity may be the most openly blasphemed religion in the world today, yet it’s American Christians who walk on eggshells in a valiant effort to respect other cultures and religions of the world.

He brings up some interesting stories, several of which haven’t been in the mainstream press:

Back in the United States…crosses belonging to a Christian group at the private George Washington University in Washington were desecrated…The desecration incited no hint of violence.  Read more…

President Obama’s religious faith continues to be a topic of discussion in the mainstream press.  A recent article discussed an interview in which he said he is a “Christian by choice.”

Interestingly, at the end of the article, Obama said this:

“This is a country that is still predominantly Christian. But we have Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, agnostics, Buddhists and that their own path to grace is one that we have to revere and respect as much as our own.”

The perspective is interesting; Americans United for the Separation of Church and State made a point of saying that Obama “got it:”  Read more…

This is an updated version of the annual discussion of the Combined Federal Campaign. 

Whether or not you believe in the concept of the exact tithe, charitable giving remains one of the basic tenets of Christian living. Besides “passing the plate” on Sunday, the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is one of the more popular means through which members of the military have an opportunity to give.

Link

What is the CFC?

The CFC, which has been announced through a variety of official releases, is a government-sanctioned means of collecting charitable contributions from federal employees. It runs every year from September to December (CFC-Overseas runs a slightly different schedule), during which volunteer representatives make “100% contact” with their fellow employees to inform them of the charitable giving campaign. Military members (and other government employees) are given the opportunity to make one-time contributions or give monthly deductions from their paychecks to any of thousands of approved charities.

Why should a Christian use the CFC?  Read more…

LeTourneau University, founded by Christian engineer and philanthropist R.G. LeTourneau, recently received a $5 million gift to create an endowment for inbound homeschool graduates.

Recently recognized in U.S. News and World Report’s annual rankings of “America’s Best Colleges” as one of the top 10 universities among private schools in Texas and above all state universities in Texas in the same category, LeTourneau University is an interdenominational Christian university that offers more than 60 graduate and undergraduate programs in a variety of liberal arts with flagship programs in aeronautical science and engineering.

LeTourneau has an engineering and aeronautical bent, including a significant flight program.

The New York Times covered the Kabul memorial ceremony of the 10 aid workers who were recently killed in Afghanistan.  The ceremony was held in the British cemetery there:

Originally established for British military dead in the Second Afghan War, in 1879, it is probably the only place in the capital where crosses are on public display (churches are illegal here).

The memorial was reportedly consciously non-religious:

If there was a theme to the memorial service, which was self-consciously non-religious, it was the thought that these were people who died doing something they believed in passionately, and the best way to honor them was to keep at it.

Rabbi Daniel Lapin, an interesting and sometimes controversial American orthodox rabbi, has a fascinating interview at the Jewish Press that touches on Christianity in America.  He discusses everything from the “threat” to Judaism of Christianity in America to his encouragement to wish Christians a “Merry Christmas” rather than Happy Holidays:

I think America has provided the most tranquil, prosperous, and durable haven for Jews in the last 2,000 years because it is a [religious] Protestant country, not in spite of it.  Read more…

Thirteen-year old Hunter Koltes won the Air Force’s Year of the Air Force Family video competition in the youth category.  Koltes is the son of LtCol Jason Koltes, the USAFE vice commander executive officer and an F-16 pilot, formerly of the  F-16 demo team.

The video communicates an amazingly mature and responsible attitude for a young teenager in this day and age.  The 60-second film, which has an interesting soundtrack choice (Switchfoot’s This is Your Life) as well as imagery, is worth the watch.

All of the competition videos can be seen here, or you can link directly to Koltes’ video.

Also noted and viewable at the Air Force Times.

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State has, again, filed a complaint with the IRS asserting that Liberty University is misusing its status as a tax-exempt (501(c)3) organization.  The original complaint can be read here.

For its part, Liberty barely addressed the merits of the complaint, instead saying that this was simply another attempt by the AU to intimidate Liberty.  In fact, Mat Staver, the Liberty School of Law dean, said the school was considering legal action in response to the AU’s attempt to intimidate Liberty students:

“We’re now looking at whether we are going to respond by filing some kind of civil action against Americans United — because what they’re trying to do is essentially intimidate Liberty University, particularly the students, from exercising their constitutional right to vote,” he argues. “We’re not about to allow this organization to do that to Liberty University students.”

As noted in the discussion last year when AU filed a complaint against Liberty, the AU is frequently associated with criticisms of Christians in the military.  It remains a “partnering link” on the MRFF page, and Michael Weinstein has claimed AU membership at one point.

It is unlikely that this article will be very interesting to many, but some may find it illuminating.  It doesn’t deal directly with religion and the military, but analyzes an organization that frequently involves itself in that topic.  The MRFF frequently relies on a strict application of ”the rules” to forward its political agenda with regard to Christians in the military, and it appears it may have its own issues with rules regarding its conduct.  For those that are interested: Read more…

Though he was not the only player to do so, former Florida Gator Tim Tebow made famous the practice of using his eyeblacks for communicating a message.  The NCAA football rules committee has now decided to ban the practice, leading some to dub it the “Tebow Rule.”

Under some interpretations, the practice of putting such text anywhere on the sports uniform was already prohibited, and the rules committee “clarified” that prohibition to include the players’ eyeblacks.

The Air Force was proud to point out that Colonel Terry Virts Jr, a 1989 graduate of the US Air Force Academy, was the pilot for the Endeavor STS-130 shuttle mission (originally scheduled for February 7th, weather delayed to the 8th).  The announcement allowed the Air Force to highlight an awesome opportunity for Airmen that may motivate them to follow in Virts’ footsteps.  Embry Riddle did the same thing, as Virts is an alumnus, allowing Embry Riddle to highlight the success of its graduates and motivate others to attend its courses.  Notably, Virts was also a fighter pilot and test pilot.

He is also a Christian:  Read more…

The notoriously blunt-speaking Michael Weinstein recently demonstrated an unusually thin skin when he threatened legal action against a potential critic of his organization.  The statement at issue occurred in the original ABC News article on the Trijicon gun sights:

Tom Munson, director of sales and marketing for Trijicon, which is based in Wixom, Michigan, said the inscriptions “have always been there” and said there was nothing wrong or illegal with adding them. Munson said the issue was being raised by a group that is “not Christian.”

Apparently, the MRFF is offended by that characterization, though the MRFF isn’t explicitly named and the quote itself is paraphrased.  Weinstein’s organization took the unusual step of releasing its legal correspondence to an internet blogger, who quoted the following paragraph from a legal letter in response to the statement above:

Referring to the Foundation as a group which is “not Christian” is not only inaccurate and shamelessly false, but demonstrably contrary to fact. Approximately 96 percent of the Foundation’s nearly 16,000 active duty military clients and enumerable additional supporters are in fact practicing Christians by faith. To state otherwise not only slanders the Foundation, but also all of its clients. Further, the Foundation’s largest supporter is the California Council of Churches IMPACT, which is comprised of 5,500 Christian congregations, 21 distinct Christian denominations, and, directly and indirectly, millions of individual Christians.

The “legal letter” came from the same law firm that Weinstein is currently employing in Weinstein v Ammerman.

The stern rebuke from Weinstein’s MRFF is laughable.  Consider the ramifications Read more…