Tag Archives: chris rodda

Air Force Colonel: There are Many Roads to God

Critics of religious freedom in the US military have sometimes claimed that speaking one’s faith while being associated with the military is forbidden.  For example, Michael Weinstein’s MRFF used to have a stockpile of chaplains’ articles from local base papers they would re-publish, often with little comment except shock and the implication that what the military member (a chaplain) was doing was wrong (an implication their acolytes were quick to assume was fact).

MRFF volunteer Rick Baker has gone further, saying uniformed officers can’t even put a religious bumper sticker on their private car.  Chris Rodda, Weinstein’s research assistant, has gone so far as to explicitly state it is wrong for officers to “publicly espouse” their religious beliefs on the internet, even when they do so as private citizens.  (She’s wrong, of course, but that hasn’t stopped her in the past…)

It is worth noting that these criticisms have been aimed Read more

Chick-fil-A on being a Missionary in the Workplace

Lost in the recent “scandal” over the revelations that family-run Chick-fil-A supports marriage (shocking, isn’t it?) were the other words of President and CEO Dan Cathy.  Cathy expects that Christians will be missionaries to the world wherever they are:

Cathy believes strongly that Christians are missionaries in the workplace. “Jesus had a lot of things to say about people who work and live in the business community,” he said

While representatives of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation will claim this is “code speak” for Christians taking over the world, this is how Cathy explained Read more

Newest Academy Cadets Eat Doughnuts, Told to Let Go of God

Jason Torpy of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers is currently engaged in his annual campaign on atheism at the US military academies, which coincides with basic training at each service academy.  The Christian Post picked up on his discussion, and noted that some version of non-sectarian offering was available during basic training to new cadets.

Chaplain Ron Crews of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty acknowledges that those who choose to have no religious faith also have rights — but questions their desire to mimic religious institutions and have chaplains:  Read more

MASH Star Pontificates on the Military Chaplaincy

Mike Farrell, better known as BJ Hunnicutt of M*A*S*H fame, apparently thinks his “service” with Father Mulcahy qualifies him to speak with authority on the US military chaplaincy.  He authored a lengthy piece on the Huffington Post written in the style of Chris Rodda; that is, heavy on vague accusations and light on facts:

Today, a huge percentage of our military chaplains, according to thousands of aggrieved American servicemen and women, present themselves as fevered salesmen for a fundamentalist version of Christianity rather than as simple, caring souls with a willingness to listen and no attached quid pro quo. These religious hucksters see themselves as “government-paid missionaries” and the youth under their domain “as ripe as black bananas.”

Farrell fails to quantify or provide support for his “huge percentage,” and provides no source other than the vague anecdotes of Michael Weinstein’s MRFF “clients.”  (Farrell, conveniently enough, is a member of Weinstein’s advisory board.)  Farrell is also apparently blind to his own prejudice, calling people who hold beliefs with which he disagrees “hucksters.”

He authoritatively continues:  Read more

Michael Weinstein Targets Evangelicals in Fishing for Bibles, Part 2

As predicted last November, Michael Weinstein went fishing for controversy over military-themed Bibles and finally managed to manufacture a scandal out of the nearly decade-old Holman series of military-themed Bibles carrying official military service seals.

But what that led to is even more interesting, for Weinstein may have let slip (again) his real target in his “war” against religious freedom in the US military.

For its part, the military says the decision to withdraw permission for Holman to use the seals was administrative housekeeping.  Weinstein’s research assistant Chris Rodda cried malarkey, saying the military never would have revisited the permission if not for the MRFF inquiries.

As it has in the past, the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, representing 2,000 military chaplains, is calling on Congress to investigate why the military is so keen on bowing to pressure from the MRFF.

The end result is the Holman Bibles can be Read more

Marine Crusaders in the Modern Context

A local paper follows up on the decision of the US Marine Corps to order a unit not to become the “Crusaders” as they had traditionally been for 50 years.  As noted previously, the order came from a three-star General:

Lt. Gen. Terry Robling, deputy commandant for aviation, issued an order April 30 that Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 122 discontinue use of the Crusaders moniker and a logo that featured a red cross on a white shield. The squadon [sic] will retain its identity as the “Werewolves,” said Lt. Col. Joseph Plenzler, a Corps spokesman.

The Marine leadership apparently felt the “modern context” of the term made Read more

Military Uniform can Defend Homosexuality, but not Breastfeeding

Two members of the Washington state National Guard were recently photographed while breastfeeding their children.  Just as the Time cover recently did, Senior Airman Terran Echegoyen-McCabe and Staff Sgt. Christina Luna also caused controversy, but not for the same reason.  Other moms were also photographed, but it was their presence in uniform that caused the consternation.

While there were some variations of criticism (they didn’t have their hats on outside!), the response from the Washington Air National Guard, which oversees their unit based at Fairchild AFB, WA, was the one that mattered:  Read more

Marine Crusaders Become Werewolves, Again

According to MSNBC, the VMFA-122 Crusaders were “ordered to reverse” their decision to return to the “Crusaders” moniker.

“The deputy commandant for aviation [Lt. Gen. Terry Robling] directed VMFA 122 to maintain the unit identification as the Werewolves,” said Marines public information officer Lt. Col. Joseph Plenzler. “I called down there to confirm that they have changed the tail markings, squadron patches” and other places the squadron logo appears, he said.

The Marines gave no reason for the order, giving Michael Weinstein — who had called the Marines a “national security threat” for the move — the blood in the water he needed to claim victory and make further demands:  Read more

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