Tag Archives: maaf

Humanists Denied Wedding in Naval Academy Chapel

Former Army Captain and current atheist Jason Torpy is keeping busy.  While currently claiming to act as the endorsing agent for a proposed humanist chaplain, he’s also trying to act as an officiant for a humanist wedding at the US Naval Academy.  The only problem for the “Reverend” Torpy: Annapolis reserves its Christian chapel for Christian ceremonies.

Jennifer Erickson, an academy spokeswoman, said in an email that the Naval Academy Chapel is a religious venue that has been used for Protestant and Catholic services since its dedication in 1908.

“The chapel contains permanent Christian architectural features that make it inappropriate for non-Christian or non-religious wedding ceremonies,” Erickson wrote in response to questions about the request. “For requests involving non-Christian and non-religious wedding ceremonies, the Naval Academy offers alternative venues, such as the non-denominational chapel and the Naval Academy Club.”

Because the Christian chapel has unmatched “grandeur” — including the crypt of famed seaman John Paul Jones — the humanists complain that nothing else will do.  The non-theists apparently admire theistic architecture.

To be clear, there are several chapels at Annapolis, including a Jewish Read more

Congressman Calls Idea of Atheist Chaplain “Total Nonsense”

Update: The House passed the Appropriations bill along with the amendment referenced below requiring chaplains to have endorsers — effectively prohibiting non-theistic chaplains (along with any new endorsers).  Rep Doug Collins (R-Ga) accused atheist activists of having the real goal of covertly undermining the entire institution of the military chaplaincy.

The Obama Administration has threatened to veto the 2014 Department of Defense Appropriations Act, saying it is too generous with military pay and too stingy with civilian pay.

As a point of clarification, the Defense Appropriations Act is a distinct entity from the Defense Authorization Act (or NDAA), which has been the point of focus for the past few months.  The Authorization Act describes how the US DoD is “authorized” to organize and operate; the Appropriations Act “appropriates” the money to accomplish that end.

The appropriations bills were actually already passed by each house of Congress, but have yet to come out of conference committee.

Additionally, the recent push for atheist chaplains has now generated an official Congressional response — twice.  First, US Rep Jared Polis (D-Co) offered an amendment (#295) to the authorization act that would have permitted  Read more

Atheist Jason Torpy Claims Not Praying is Atheism

Jason Torpy, former US Army Captain, atheist, and one-man band that is the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, recently commented on the study of religiosity and World War II veterans originally discussed here and announced back in May.  (The article at Religion News Service was written by Kimberly Winston, whose reporting on atheism was apparently the product of a generous donation from an atheist benefactor, Todd Stiefel.)

Torpy said [emphasis his]

The research also found that 28% of Pacific Infantry never prayed, even during heavy combat, so the study proves more than disproves the service of atheists in combat.

Torpy then contacted an (atheist) doctoral student, with Read more

Atheist Jason Torpy Seeks Distance from Wikileaker Manning

Former US Army Captain Jason Torpy, currently leading the one-man Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, recently attempted to evaluate the decision by Private Bradley Manning to call himself a “humanist.”

In an article at the American Humanist Association, for which Torpy is the Treasurer, he writes “Is Bradley Manning Really a Humanist?”

[Manning lawyer] David Coombs…made a show that Manning had ID tags with “humanist” written on them…Coombs argued, “that his actions came from his deeply held beliefs that all lives had value, Iraqi and American.” Because the defense is leaning on Manning’s humanist beliefs, this trial also calls for humanist attention as well.

Torpy apparently thinks the humanist community needs to think Read more

Atheist Supports Restricting Military Religious Freedom

Update: Former Marine pilot Tom Carpenter of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy — a liberal activist group — largely repeated the list below a few weeks later, though he did so without attribution.

Jason Torpy, the one-man band that is the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, recently posted a point-by-point refutation of recent accusations of the US military being hostile to Christianity.

Much of his disagreement was nuance or the way in which something was phrased, which isn’t worth discussing here.  The interesting ones, though, were the cases in which he agreed with the US military’s “anti-Christian” actions:

January 2010 — Department of Defense orders removal of tiny Bible references on military scopes and gunsights.
Torpy: True and appropriate.

This issue has been discussed before.  While there is no religious requirement the references remain, the fact they were targeted because of their (obscure) religious reference — only after Michael Weinstein complained, notably — is troubling.  That he would seek this Read more

Atheists Oppose Defense Bill over Religious Liberty Protections

Update: The ACLU has likewise opposed the religious protections in the bill, which a local article called a “needed balance.”

The Congressional conference committee has sent the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) back to both houses of Congress for a vote.  (It is reportedly expected to pass, and to be signed by President Obama.)  The conference committee report includes expanded abortion coverage, a restriction on Guantanamo detainee transfers, and religious liberty protections for US troops.  The religious liberty protection language is not precisely what the House had passed (as opposed to the Senate, which passed none), but it is substantially similar:

SEC. 533. PROTECTION OF RIGHTS OF CONSCIENCE OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES AND CHAPLAINS OF SUCH MEMBERS.
(a) PROTECTION OF RIGHTS OF CONSCIENCE.—
(1) ACCOMMODATION.—The Armed Forces shall accommodate the beliefs of a member of the armed forces reflecting the conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs of the member and, in so far as practicable, may not use such beliefs as the basis of any adverse personnel action, discrimination, or denial of promotion, schooling, training, or assignment.
(2) DISCIPLINARY OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION.—
Nothing in paragraph (1) precludes disciplinary or administrative action for conduct that is proscribed by chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code (the Uniform Code of Military Justice), including actions and speech that threaten good order and discipline.

The committee explained the result of their negotiations this way:  Read more

Update 2: Atheist Ends Military Nativity in Bahrain

Update: A letter to the editor of the Stars and Stripes questions Torpy’s “odd idea of religious freedom.”

Former Army Captain and current atheist Jason Torpy was working overtime doing damage control over the past week, as various outlets picked up the story of his complaint over the “live nativity” occurring during NSA Bahrain’s annual “Holiday Tree Lighting.”  His comments appeared on a variety of sites covering the controversy; in each case, he basically said he didn’t demand NSA Bahrain cancel it — he just called it “unconstitutional” and a danger to US troops — that’s all.  Of course, he did say that cancelling it was “preferable to” letting it happen:

If the scene had to be cancelled, that is unfortunate but it is also preferable to the government-sponsored proselytism [*See note, below] the Live Nativity would have added to an otherwise positive celebration.

FoxNews accurately reported that Torpy’s complaint to the Inspector General led to the cancellation of the event to occur during Read more

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