Category Archives: Government and Religion

Michael Weinstein Incites Faculty against USAFA?

The prior article on the upcoming religious climate review at USAFA noted most major news repeats of the CSIndy story missed some of the more interesting details.

The Associated Press article closed with a single sentence on a related topic:

The Independent reported that the Air Force also plans to review questions raised by an academy faculty member about the qualifications of some of the faculty.

While the statement may seem unrelated to religion at USAFA, it’s actually an integral piece to the puzzle.  Here’s what the Independent said:

A second inquiry…involves alleged accreditation violations, religious discrimination and cronyism in hiring civilian faculty.

“I am very concerned that [USAFA] may have committed persistent, gross violations of allowing inadequate academic credentials of many military instructors,” R. David Mullin, associate professor of economics, writes in his complaint to the Higher Learning Commission, Chicago, which accredits the academy.

“Also there have been violations of First Amendment rights and academic freedom by Brigadier General Dana Born, Read more

US Army Eliminates “Moral Character” as Requirement for Service

The US Army recently published an updated version of Army Regulation 601-210, Active and Reserve Components Enlistment Program.  The new version, dated 8 February 2011, makes an interesting change.  From the list of revisions at the front of the regulation:

Changes all references of “moral qualification or waiver” to “conduct qualification or waiver” (throughout).

The words “moral character,” a mainstay of the prior version, now occur only one time in the entire publication.  Unfortunately, it appears to have been implemented with a simple “find and replace” of the word “moral.”  For example, where it once said:  Read more

Fort Bragg Issues Statement on Atheist Rock Beyond Belief

After Col Stephen Sicinski’s letter approving the atheist “Rock Beyond Belief” event was publicized, the Fort Bragg Garrison Commander reportedly responded directly to both RBB and the Secular Coalition for America, which has been publicly critical of his decision.  His message has not been made public by those organizations, despite the fact multiple groups continue to inaccurately portray Fort Bragg’s decision.  (Col Sicinski previously lamented the fact Fort Bragg was being “misrepresented.”)

Col Sicinski’s message, which reaffirms some points and contains some interesting details not previously made public, is below in its entirety (unedited):

Message from Col. Stephen Sicinski, Fort Bragg Read more

DADT: Chaplain Endorsers, Training Begins, and Troop Inputs

The Alliance Defense Fund has filed an amicus brief in the Log Cabin Republicans lawsuit which had temporarily resulted in an injunction against the enforcement of the ban on homosexuality in the military. The brief was on behalf of a fairly long list of Chaplain endorsing agencies — the organizations required to provide endorsements of potential Chaplains before the military will accept them.  The list of Chaplain groups included:  Read more

USAFA Religious Environment to be Reviewed, Again

According to the local Colorado Springs Independent, and repeated at other news sites, a former US Air Force Academy commandant and retired four-star General has been tasked to return to USAFA and review the religious climate.

As requested by the assistant secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Ret. Gen. Patrick Gamble will visit the academy to assess the religious climate.

“His visit is not an investigation or compliance inspection, but an independent, subjective look at the overall climate at USAFA relating to free exercise of religion,” the Air Force says in a statement. “A detailed report is not expected.”

Many of the networks that repeated the story, however, missed the far more interesting details…

Also noted at the Religion Clause.

Army Will Punish Hasan’s Superiors

Various news outlets are reporting that the US Army has decided to punish military officers who expressed concern about Maj Nidal Malik Hasan’s behavior and officership — yet continued to give him glowing performance reports.

The Army announced…it will punish nine officers in connection with the Fort Hood shootings for “leadership failures relating to the career of Maj. Hasan.”

The Army statement indicates the officers may still get “due process” in responding to the “severity” of the action against them.

There may be a tragic irony in officers being punished for “failures” that led to Hasan’s conduct — when Hasan himself has yet to even be put on trial.  Most websites still say “alleged” with respect to Hasan, giving deference to the mantra of “innocent until proven guilty.”

The Military’s “Duty to Accommodate”

Mad Padre, a blogging Canadian military Chaplain, posted a link to an interesting article in The Maple Leaf, the Canadian military paper.  Entitled “Duty to accommodate in the CF,” the short article touches on the Canadian Forces’ policies on religious (and other) accommodation.

The article includes a picture of a Sikh Army officer.  The US Army has currently made few uniform exceptions for Sikhs within its ranks, both enlisted and officer.

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