God and Country

Addressing Regent University’s Robertson School of Government, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission Richard Land told students God calls some into public service — with the express intent of influencing the culture.  Referencing Romans 13, Land said

God “does call some of us to be involved in government, because you cannot write laws that will protect you from bad application by evil people…We need for godly men and women to be willing to be open to the prospect that God’s will for your life may be to go into public service, to serve Read more…

A group of trainees at the US Air Force basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, was photographed in a religious training event that has raised the ire of a religious watchdog.

On the first Sunday in August a representative of Harun Yahya was allowed, following an invitation from the Muslim chaplain at Lackland, Captain Sharior Rahman, to present two classes: a morning one on “The Collapse of Darwinism and the Fact of Creation” and an evening one covering “Miracles in the Qur’an.”

Dr. Timothy Furnish of Family Security Matters has made it his purpose in life to track the “mahdi movement” (loosely paraphrased, the messianic side of Islam), of which Harun Yahya is a part.  Furnish obtained photographs of basic trainees sitting through a class on these Islamic studies:  Read more…

As noted at the Huffington Post, US Marine Anthony Vance deployed to Iraq and soon became Ibrahim Mohamed, a new convert to Islam.

Mohamed felt the pull toward the faith strengthen in Iraq — “the heart of the Islamic world,” as he says — and he reached out to the Muslim contractors on his base and started learning about the precepts of the Quran.

Convinced that he was being called to Islam, he officially became a Muslim while Read more…

US Army Chaplain (Capt) Somya Malasri is currently in Australia with his unit, where he is leading Buddhist services for both American servicemembers and their Australian hosts.

An Army article notes Chaplain Malasri is “evangelizing” in his travels around the world:

A chaplain for 10 months now, Malasri is spreading the teachings and philosophies of Buddha to soldiers on multiple continents.

In an interesting perspective, Chaplain Malasri says “it’s not necessarily Read more…

The American arm of the ministry known as “Campus Crusade for Christ” will begin phasing out that name and officially become “Cru” over the next year or so.

Amazingly, that’s been big news, even at Fox, CNN, and the Washington Post.

In a classic case of “can’t win,” critics from both sides have blasted the organization.  Some supporters are disappointed to see what they feel is bowing to political correctness.  Some detractors think it is a weak attempt to mask the ‘true mission’ of evangelizing the world.

“Cru” is already used Read more…

The Army Times notes the US Army’s “Soldier 360°” program aimed at “dealing with trauma and rebuilding relationships.”  The article clearly connects the program with Eastern “spirituality”:

An Army program has adopted some old Eastern practices to help allay modern post-combat stress…using holistic tactics, including yoga, acupuncture and meditation.

The program ushers noncommissioned officers and spouses through a six-phase, behavior-modifying process called “learn, do, practice, model, teach, and change,”

Interestingly, the program based on Eastern religions, taught by the Army, also has an ‘evangelical’ aspect, as the program Read more…

Michael Weinstein has written a letter to the USAFA Superintendent, LtGen Michael Gould, “demanding” that an invitation to Lt Clebe McClary (USMC, Ret.) be rescinded.  Lt McClary — an internationally recognized motivational speaker and wounded Vietnam Veteran – has apparently been invited to speak at the 10 February National Prayer Luncheon for the 10th Air Base Wing, the wing that runs the facilities surrounding the Air Force Academy.

Weinstein’s reason?  McClary is the ‘wrong kind of Christian:’  Read more…

One of the results of the religious “scandals” that have plagued the US Air Force Academy over the past few years was the creation of the Cadet Interfaith Council.  The CIC was the subject of the latest USAFA news article on religious expression and diversity at the Academy.

The 20-member cadet group serves as a focal point for religious issues in the cadet wing.  Current president Cadet 2nd Class Philicia Fahrenbruch notes the Council helped ‘protect’ the time set aside for SPIRE on Monday evenings last year, and has helped deal with other issues since then.

Some of the topics noted in the article highlight the continued sensitivity of religion at the Air Force Academy:  Read more…

As previously noted, the US Air Force Academy responded to Freedom of Information Act requests by holding a press conference and releasing the previously withheld results of the 2009-2010 climate survey.

The release was part of an official Air Force announcement; the Academy announcement contains a link to the presentation made by USAFA Superintendent Lt Gen Michael Gould at the press conference (available here, 5.6MB pdf).

The Academy made a concerted effort to explain the results (or, more accurately, describe how the results couldn’t be explained).  It appears the Academy survey was “imperfect” in several respects:  Read more…

The Fort Bragg Freedom Festival, the atheist response to the evangelistic Rock the Fort, has previously been discussed.  How, precisely, it will be executed appears to have gotten…complicated.

For one thing, the “Freedom Festival” Facebook page now says it is (emphatically) “no longer associated” with its own website:  Read more…

Michael Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation publicly prides itself on its self-proclaimed “defense of the Constitution,” but its recent response to a critic defies its own description.

A detractor emailed the MRFF defending the “christian concert coming to FT Bragg [sic],” previously discussed here.  The MRFF published the message, as it frequently does, and its response was telling.

Rick Baker, an MRFF “regional coordinator,” said  Read more…

According to various reports, Fort Bragg plans to continue with its Rock the Fort event despite complaints the participation of US military personnel constitutes a violation of the Constitution.

In a letter this week responding to concerns expressed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick wrote that he’s confident the planned “Rock the Post” event doesn’t infringe on anyone’s freedoms.  Read more…

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State has called for the US Army to cancel a Chaplaincy event at Fort Bragg, NC.  The event is Rock the Fort, which is associated with Billy Graham’s Evangelistic Association.  According to the BGEA website:

When evangelist Josh Holland gets up to speak at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C., this Saturday, he plans to honor the soldiers who are present, thanking them for their sacrifice and what they do to ensure our nation’s freedom.

“I also want to talk about the truest kind of freedom, which is found in a relationship with Christ and in freedom from sin,” Holland said during a phone interview this week.

The AU takes issue:  Read more…

According to a Michigan news site, the “Bible-references flap” from earlier this year (which was frequently misrepresented) hasn’t put a damper on the bottom line of Trijicon, the maker of advanced (and popular) gunsights for weapons.

In fact, it might even have helped.

Tom Munson, director of sales and marketing at Trijicon, said the company has removed controversial Biblical verse references from inscriptions in its military orders but still includes them in commercial sales to hunters, collectors and others. He also said the company this year is on track for more business than last year under its military contracts, despite Read more…

The Time Magazine picture of the disfigured Afghan girl — reportedly the result of an attack by her husband — has justifiably raised the issue of the rights and status of women in Afghanistan.  The logic seems reasonable; if Aisha had not been a woman, it is unlikely she would have been subject to such abuse.  The “women’s rights” cause also fits with the common theme of some Western supporters — including some in America — of the Afghan war effort.

In an interesting contrast, the airwaves have been awash with condemnation of the attack that left 10 Christian aid workers dead in Afghanistan last week.  Karl Eikenberry, US ambassador to Afghanistan, said this is a video statement:  Read more…