US Air Force Academy Adds Pagan Chapel

The US Air Force Academy cadet chapel is expanding to the outdoors.  Along with its Christian, Jewish, Islamic, and Buddhist chapel areas, the cadet chapel will now officially include a “pagan circle” located on a hill just above the chapel grounds.

The Academy pagan group is led by USAF TSgt Brandon Longcrier, an NCO who works in the astronautics lab within the academic faculty.  Longcrier was effusive in his praise of the Academy and the Chaplains in their support for his efforts, which included pagan rituals for Basic Cadet trainees over the summer.

“There really haven’t been any obstacles for the new circle,” he said. “The chaplain’s office has been 100-percent supportive.”

According to Longcrier, the pagans meet during each Monday night (chapel-sponsored SPIRE meets that night).

It would appear that those who claim the US military is officially “Christian” are losing any vestiges of evidence to support their claim.

“Jesus Rifles” and the Trijicon Sword Drill

Trijicon, the now-infamous maker of high quality gun sights, has been accused of illegally “proselytizing” for adding Bible references to the weapon sights it provided to the US military.  The initial accusation has already been discussed, as has Trijicon’s voluntary offer to remove the inscriptions.

The term proselytize carries a negative stigma and is frequently misused, as it has been in this case.  An astute letter to the editor at the Stars and Stripes notes that it would likely take more than 6 characters “to convert” someone from or to a faith, as the definition of proselytize indicates.

Still, the accusations of “conversion by Bible reference” have been largely based on the presence of New Testament references to Jesus Christ on Trijicon’s sights.  However, not a single major news outlet asked why Trijicon selected the specific verses they did.  It would appear most, if not all, made the assumption that Trijicon was picking “Jesus verses” for the ineptly worded purpose of “proselytizing”–an assessment supported by news organizations generally paraphrasing only the “Jesus” part of the relevant verses, as well as the popularity of the inaccurate and perjorative term “Jesus rifle” that resulted.  However, an elementary web search reveals that is not the case.  If one considers all of the verses that Trijicon has selected, it puts their “intent” in a whole new light.  Read more

Soldier, Former Muslim, Converts to Catholicism in Iraq

A New York paper covers the story of First Lt. Marjana Mair Bidwell [updated link], a US Army intelligence officer and wife of another Army officer.  She “worshipped as a Muslim for 18 years,” but converted to Christianity while in college–which was the US Military Academy at West Point.

When I left Islam during college, I considered myself to have a Christian mindset because I related to a lot of the teachings. I was never baptized, though I did attend church out of curiosity.

Apparently, she began learning about Catholicism because her husband is Catholic.

I did not start with the intent of converting to Catholicism. It was just to learn more about my husband’s religion. I didn’t choose Catholicism, it chose me. Halfway through the classes, I realized that the Catholic Church is very straightforward and that there’s something very moving about the Eucharist. That was the turning point for me.

The classes to which she is referring are the religious education classes taught by the Chaplain Read more

Cadet Wing Commander Inspired to Persevere

The Cadet Wing Commander at the US Air Force Academy is the top military ranking cadet over all cadets.  The current semester’s commander, Cadet 1st Class Andrew Van Timmeren, has an article in the base paper that reveals an interesting history:

Cadet 1st Class Andrew Van Timmeren…almost didn’t stay past his second day of Basic Cadet Training.

Cadet Van Timmeren, then a basic cadet, was ready to pack it in and head home until a chaplain challenged him that if he left then, he would accomplish nothing.

He seems to say his style has Read more

T-34 Instructor Presumed Dead, Student Rescued

The US Navy has indicated that the instructor pilot from the crashed T-34C training aircraft, Lt. Clinton Wermers, is now presumed dead.  The student was rescued the night of the crash and has not yet been identified.  Initial reports had indicated that both pilots were holding on to the wreckage before it sank.

A comment left on the CNN article on this story indicated that Wermers was a married father of two, and was expecting a third child.

The T-34C is a Navy primary training aircraft used to teach new student pilots.  The two-seat, single engine aircraft does not have ejection seats, but requires aircrew to manually bail out in emergencies.  The T-34C is slated to be replaced by the T-6A Texan II.

Chaplains Praise Support: Torahs for Our Troops

The Jewish Welfare Board’s Jewish Chaplains Council has organized an effort called “Torahs for Our Troops,” with the intent of providing Jewish servicemembers with the religious materials they require for their spiritual needs:

[Jewish] chaplains have asked [the] JWB Jewish Chaplains Council to provide them with small, lightweight but fully kosher Torah scrolls to accompany them from site to site, as they move around ships and the combat theater…For Jews, writing or helping to write a Torah is an important mitzvah. JWB is giving people the opportunity to fulfill this religious obligation by contributing toward the completion of these new Torahs, as well as a way to thank those men and women who serve in the armed forces…

As noted many times on this site, obtaining spiritual resources for servicemembers in theatre and around the world can be challenging, despite the seemingly constant call and supply of ‘care packages.’  The JWB/JCC move is an admirable effort to help military Chaplains provide for the needs of their troops.  This not only provides moral support for our troops as they are deployed in defense of our country; it also ensures US soldiers’ rights to religious free exercise regardless of their location.

Despite the positive attempts by the JWB and Jewish Chaplains to support Jewish members of the US military, their efforts are not without potential controversy Read more

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