Tag Archives: christian

Afghan War Solution: Yoga

Any article that starts with “retired male supermodel” and touches on peace and religion is bound to draw some kind of attention.  From the Wall Street Journal, no less:

Retired male supermodel Cameron Alborzian sat down with Maj. Gen. Phil Jones at the U.S.-led coalition headquarters in Kabul this past summer to discuss a novel way to persuade Afghan insurgents to lay down arms.

Apparently Alborzian, who was once associated with Madonna’s music videos, has bent the ear of American and British Generals in Afghanistan with his suggestion that everyone should just meditate together, and everything would be ok:  Read more

Did USAFA Cancel Operation Christmas Child?

A few news sites reported last week on the US Air Force Academy’s participation in — and then reconsideration of its participation in — Operation Christmas Child, in which shoeboxes with basic sundries and gifts are given to needy children around the world by Samaritan’s Purse.

The situation is fairly complex, as evidenced by the fact a few news organizations had to edit and reissue their news articles to correct misunderstandings about what really occurred.

Undisputed public statements indicate cadets at the US Air Force Academy came up with the idea to participate in Operation Christmas Child.  They made an announcement in Mitchell Hall (the wing dining facility, with all cadets present) and subsequently sent out a wing-wide email explaining who to contact to participate.

A cadet who “didn’t think much about it at first” later forwarded the email to Michael Weinstein calling it part of the “religious problem” proving the US military “support[s] one religion, which is of course Christianity.”  (Weinstein published the email, complete with the names and personal information of the cadets involved, though he redacted his supporter’s information.)  Less than 24 hours later, Weinstein was in the local news

accus[ing] commanders of crossing the line by Read more

Military Atheists Respond: Dustin Chalker and the Facts

It seems the prior article on the White House petition to “end discrimination” against military atheists struck a chord, most notably with its creator, Dustin Chalker.

Chalker posted a response to the article with his MRFF ally Chris Rodda as an independent blog.  Not all of the assumptions Rodda and Chalker made were necessarily accurate, but the response here, as some have seen, has been interesting.  Most who have commented failed to actually read the story behind any of Chalker’s accusations, making such deep and thoughtful statements as “You’re a coward” easy, if logically unsupported, diatribes to make in their passionate support of Chalker.

Though he never indicated so himself, Rodda claims Dustin Chalker – who sued the Department of Defense as an Army Sergeant – is now the civilian “Mr.” Chalker, though she contradictorily uses his rank in the present tense.

Both Rodda’s and Chalker’s comments contained factual errors, though accuracy has never been Rodda’s strong suit.  Some of the more salient points of Chalker’s comment are below:

Chalker said it was “lying” to say his lawsuit  Read more

The Patriotic God-Gap in America

CNN’s religion blog highlighted research by Christianity Today suggesting evangelical Christians may be statistically more “patriotic” than other Americans:

Among those surveyed, evangelicals were the most likely to think the United States is No. 1.

“Other Christian traditions were less enthusiastic about America’s position in the world, but they still saw the U.S. as one of the best on the planet. About 40% of other Christians said the U.S. stands alone as the greatest country; around 55% said it and some other countries were equally great.

Those “without religious beliefs” held a “much less favorable view” Read more

Weinstein Demands Chaplain’s Head for Buddhist Proselytizing?

In a rare break from his focus on Christianity, Military Religious Freedom Foundation “president” Michael Weinstein has called for US Air Force Academy Chaplain (Col) Robert Bruno to be court-martialed for his attempts to convert cadets…to Buddhism:

US Air Force Chaplain Colonel Bruno…should face immediate criminal charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for these disgusting, prima facie examples of dereliction of duty by flagrant violations of the solemn oaths they took…

Actually, strike that, Weinstein didn’t display that intellectual integrity.  Instead, he continued his focus on Christianity:

[Chaplain Bruno is a] heinous Poster Child[] of unconstitutional, fundamentalist Christian supremacy Read more

1 … 137 138 139 140 141 … 152