God and Country

A New York museum is hosting a collection of US military Bibles dating from the mid 1800s to modern times.

The exhibit showcases three dozen copies of Scriptures published for members of the U.S. Armed Forces from the Civil War onward, from leather-bound, 19th-century copies to contemporary Bibles clothed in camouflage.

The books are on loan from Read more…

The Family Research Council has joined with Judicial Watch in filing a lawsuit against the US Navy seeking access to documentation over the Walter Reed policy that “banned” the Bible.

The FOIA lawsuit…seeks access to records concerning a policy announced in a September 14, 2011, memo issued by the Commander of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center banning the use and/or distribution of Bibles and other religious items during visits with wounded, ill or injured patients.

The Navy has reportedly failed to respond to the FRC Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request within the time required by law.  Walter Reed rescinded the policy as insufficiently reviewed after intense media coverage.

Quartermasters have Saint Martin, and Marine artillery has Saint Barbara, but the patron saint of Army aviation is Saint Michael.  Four aviators were recently “inducted into the Order of Saint Michael” while deployed to Afghanistan.

The award recognizes individuals who have contributed significantly to the promotion of Army Aviation in ways that stand out in the Read more…

A recent report out of southern California indicates it will still be “weeks or months” before the US Marines make a decision on the now-controversial Camp Pendleton cross.

“We are thoroughly and deliberately evaluating the issues raised by the existence of the informal memorial in order to assess the impact on the installation,” said the spokeswoman, Capt. Kendra Motz.

The atheist whose complaint started the controversy, Jason Torpy, reiterated his assertion the crosses are illegal.

As proclaimed by their Commander in Chief, Marines at Camp Lejeune, NC, commemorated the National Day of Prayer on May 3rd.

“When we all come together we can accomplish so many more things than we can separately,” said Chaplain Nashaunna Sanders…“On (the National Day of Prayer) we are all in accord Read more…

Update: The committee passed the religious freedom legislation as amendments to the NDAA.  The legislation has the support of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

The House Armed Services Committee is going to debate the Military Religious Freedom Act, which the Air Force Times says US Rep Todd Akin (R-Mo) will let troops and chaplains “openly oppose gays.”

Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., is specifically aiming to protect religious freedom by allowing service members and chaplains to openly oppose gay and lesbian lifestyles and the presence of gay Read more…

Jason Torpy, the one-man Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, is an atheist and former Army officer.  While his MAAF is ostensibly a “community support network,” he recently revealed the true motivation behind his ideology.

In a recent display of internet frustration, Torpy took fellow atheists to task for not banding together and being “anti-” enough.  The context was a comment that people don’t join groups for things they don’t believe in, spoken by Neil deGrasse Tyson, a self-described agnostic (who says he is “often claimed by atheists”):

Do non-golf players gather and strategize? Do non-skiers…come together and talk about the fact that they don’t ski? I can’t do that. I can’t gather around and talk about how much everybody in the room doesn’t believe in God.

This is the same point raised by many people  Read more…

Michael Weinstein, the sole paid officer of the “charity” he founded and runs, revels in having people perceive him as a martyr for his cause.  He recently said this about what his fight against religious freedom has cost him:

Someone asked my wife how much do you owe? What did you have to give up, probably a lot huh? She was crying when she made the statement, “No, we didn’t have to give up a lot, we had to give up everything.” There is no retirement fund. There is no retirement home. There is no sense of security…

There are two possibilities. First, that Weinstein is grossly Read more…

A group of West Point cadets recently bunked at a mosque and attended Islamic prayers as part of an ongoing course called “Winning the Peace.”  The 23 cadets traveled to Jersey City, where they attended religious events associated with Islam, Coptic Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism.

During the visit to Jersey City, the 23 cadets in the class stay overnight at a mosque and attend Islamic prayers. They also Read more…

Consistent with US law, President Barack Obama proclaimed Thursday, May 3, 2012 to be a National Day of Prayer.  He also called specifically for prayer for US troops:

Let us pray for the continued strength and safety of our service members and their families…

I invite all citizens of our Nation, as their own faith directs them, to join me in giving thanks for the many blessings we enjoy, and I call upon individuals of all faiths to pray for guidance, grace, and protection for our great Nation as we address the challenges of our time.

His proclamation for a day of prayer contained a subtle Read more…

Justin Griffith, the Army Soldier made famous by the event he organized at Fort Bragg, recently found a prayer group advertised on an Army unit’s Facebook page:

Naturally, Griffith immediately took issue with the time of the prayer event, which is during what are traditionally considered duty hours.  He decided to call on his web followers to target the unit’s Facebook post [formatting original]:  Read more…

The US Air Force was previously taken to task by Congress when it removed the Latin word for “god” from the Rapid Capabilities Office patch — because an atheist complained.  (In fact, Rep Randy Forbes went so far as to say Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz “has been as bad as I have seen…in defending religious liberties.”

It seems the Air Force solved the patch problem:  Read more…

US Rep Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) introduced the Military Religious Freedom Act (HR 3828), which aims to prevent chaplains and other troops from being “penalized” for failing to support homosexuals in the military.

It would exempt chaplains from functions that violate their Read more…

US Congressman Bob Filner (D-CA) has reportedly asked the US Navy to name a ship after Harvey Milk, a homosexual activist who was killed while serving as a San Francisco supervisor in 1978. Milk also served in the Navy in the early 1950s — apparently illegally, Read more…

Capt Barry Crawford was recently awarded the Air Force cross by US Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz for his actions in Afghanistan in May 2010.  The Air Force cross is second only to the Medal of Honor, and Crawford became only the third living recipient of the award since September 11, 2001.  The Air Force special tactics officer and his small team fought a pitched 14-hour battle with more than 100 Taliban insurgents — with Crawford exposing himself to fire to assist in the evacuation of wounded.

Crawford credited “someone higher Read more…