Fort Bragg Chaplains Encourage Strong Bonds in Marriage

The Fort Bragg command chaplain’s office hosted the latest meeting of Strong Bonds, the chaplain-based marriage strengthening retreats intended to help troops on the homefront.

“It’s especially critical for military personnel in that it’s difficult enough being in a relationship with someone, but when you take the dynamics of the military, the Army, the separation, the work stress, the long hours from time to time, that puts additional stress on relationships,” said Chaplain (Maj.) Ralph Clark…

The chaplains host 8 such seminars every year, and are based on a variety of relationship models:  Read more

Canadian Court Rules Against Multiple Marriages

While Canada’s acceptance of homosexuality was occasionally held up as a contrast to their southern cousins in the United States, it seems Canada hasn’t worked out all the moral issues associated with “sexual freedom,” either.

In late November British Columbia’s superior trial court upheld Canada’s law banning polygamy and polyamory.

Interestingly, the court found that such prohibitions did violate the religious liberty of some groups — including some Mormons, Muslims, and Wiccans — but the law Read more

Top 2011 Articles: Happy New Year from ChristianFighterPilot.com

Have a productive and joyful 2012.

The Top 10 articles from God and Country in 2011:

  1. Fort Carson Supports Native American Spiritualism
  2. “Terror Plot” Soldier Naser Abdo Defiant, Weinstein Equivocates
  3. MRFF Petition Garners Signatures for White House
  4. US Army Private Naser Abdo Arrested in Terror Plot
  5. DADT: House Defense Bill, Colonels Punished, Lawsuit and More
  6. Finding a Church, Part 1: The Military Chapel
  7. Atheists Stretch for Something to be Offended By
  8. Navy Blue Angels Commander Resigns over Incident
  9. Women in the Military: Statistics, and the First Female JFACC
  10. Defense Department Highlights Member-Designated Benefits

While those were the top 10 current events articles in 2011, they were not the top-visited pages on the site.  As noted Read more

Moral Confusion, Sexual Behavior, and the Redefinition of Rape

Though the trend is arguably decades old, recent court cases and public events have demonstrated the apparent moral (and legal) confusion over sexual behavior in the United States (and elsewhere).  Of course, when right and wrong are decided by the tide of opinion and relativism, it’s not unforeseeable.  As noted below, the US Congress is even trying to redefine “rape” in the military context.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a denial of a habeas corpus petition by Paul Lowe, a man charged with adult incest with his 22-year-old step-daughter (Lowe v. Stark County Sherriff, No. 09-3942 (6th Cir. Dec. 8, 2011)).  The decision cites a wide variety of cases, some supporting his position and many not.  The court ultimately decided (as have others) there is no fundamental right to sexual conduct, even private behavior between consenting adults.

The court also said Lowe’s complaints the law was “morality-based” were Read more

Senate Defense Bill Adds Marriage, Removes Sodomy Rules

Update: The Pentagon has said bestiality would still be impermissible.  Aides in Congress are saying the repeal may not stand anyway.

US Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) successfully submitted an amendment to the 2012 Defense Authorization Act that would explicitly protect US military chaplains in regard to homosexual marriage:

The Wicker legislation would prevent military chaplains from being forced to perform a marriage ceremony if the chaplain objects for reasons of conscience…

“This amendment will allow the chaplains of our Armed Forces to maintain the freedom of conscience necessary to serve both their Nation and their religion without conflict,” Wicker said.

Nothing officially requires chaplains to perform Read more

Homosexual US Military Members Sue for Benefits

A variety of websites reported 8 US servicemembers have sued the US government for failing to recognize their same-sex relationship as a marriage, as prohibited by the Defense of Marriage Act, thus denying them the benefits of married military members.

“This case is about one thing…justice for gay and lesbian servicemembers and their families,” said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a gay-rights group that filed the lawsuit. “These couples are in long-term, committed and legally recognized marriages, and the military should not be forced to turn its back on them because the federal government refuses to recognize their families.”

Sarvis leaves out the fact the relationships are not Read more

Army Chief of Staff Supports Women in Combat

The US Army Chief of Staff, General Ray Odierno, has said he wants an expanded role for women in combat units:

“We need them there. We need their talent,” he said. “This is about managing talent. We have incredibly talented females who should be in those positions.”

As with prior discussions, the article seems to place more emphasis on the “lost opportunities” for career advancement due to the lack of combat experience Read more

CAIR Accuses Army JROTC of Discrimination

The Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has said US Army JROTC uniform policies are discriminatory after Demin Zawity, a freshman at Ravenwood High School in Brentwood, TN, was told she could not wear her Islamic headscarf while in the Army uniform.

There’s no reason for them to have a policy that excludes people such as Zawity, said Gadeir Abbas, a CAIR staff attorney. It paves the way to encourage all faiths to participate, he added.

While noble-sounding, Abbas’ statement was ignorant.  JROTC programs are designed to be nearly identical to their ROTC and operational military equivalents — including following generally the same uniform rules.  In this case, the JROTC rule accurately reflects US military policy (to which there have been some notable exceptions).

Abbas also made a misleading and potentially incendiary statement:  Read more

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