Tag Archives: don byrd

Update: Responses to Chaplain Hernandez and Military Religious Freedom

Chaplain Hernandez’s previously discussed column on military Christians and religious freedom continues to receive critiques — more accurately, criticism — from a wide variety of sources.

One of the more interesting responses came from Don Byrd of the Baptist Joint Committee, a left leaning advocacy group that tends to take a more atheistic view of religious liberty than most Baptists.

In a blog entitled “Air Force Chaplain is Wrong to Oppose Religious Liberty Rights for All,” Byrd began with a principled observation ignored by most [emphasis added]:

Capt. Hernandez is of course free to believe according to his conscience and faith…The controversial issue of salvation for non-Christians is a question of Christian theology, not public policy

Personal theological beliefs do not disqualify an individual from public service.

Byrd then added a significant “however” [emphasis added]:  Read more

Atheists Appeal Victory of Big Mountain Jesus

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed an appeal after a court recently ruled that the Jesus statue on Big Mountain ski resort could remain standing.  The statue is on public land, and

The group argues the statue violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on Congress making any law regarding an establishment of religion.

The original court ruling had cited the historic value of the statue, and even made a point of saying the statue was more of a tourist attraction than religious monument.  The FFRF apparently thinks that’s all part of a conspiracy:  Read more

Mojave Cross Returns to Hilltop, Critics Stew

As previously noted, about 100 people attended a dedication of the new memorial cross in the Mojave National Preserve, erected after a decade-long battle led by the ACLU failed to have it permanently torn down.

“Judges and lawyers may have played their roles, but it was the veterans who earned this memorial, and it is for them it rises once more,” The Associated Press quoted attorney Hiram Sasser of the Texas-based Liberty Institute as saying.

Don Byrd, writing for the Baptist Joint Committee (whose purpose is ostensibly to “defend[] the first freedom of the First Amendment”) said allowing religious symbols to remain on public display was “disturbing.”  He also Read more