Tag Archives: Religion

You Can’t be a Good Christian and a Good Soldier

The “interim CEO” of the Stand Up America Project had much to say about the ability of a religious adherent to be a loyal citizen or member of the military:

There is no doubt that a devout [Christian] must proclaim the exclusivity of [Christ] or he is an apostate. Therefore, he must always be a [Christian] first, and that means he is not only unable, but also forbidden from acting in any other fashion. If he is in our military, he may take orders, and obey, but at some level, when the order runs afoul of [Christianity], he must revert to [Christianity] first.

Except, he didn’t exactly say that.  Scott Winchell railed against Muslims in the long piece, ultimately saying  Read more

Hasan’s Superiors Worried, but Promoted Him

As noted at a variety of sites, a Defense Department review has found that Army Maj Hasan’s superiors were routinely concerned about his performance and his views, but continued to promote him anyway.  This seems to already confirm what has previously been said about Hasan: people knew and were concerned about him.

Between 2003 and 2007, Hasan’s supervisors expressed their concerns with him in memos, meeting notes and counseling sessions. He needed steady monitoring, especially in the emergency room, had difficulty communicating and working with colleagues, his attendance was spotty and he saw few patients.

The question that isn’t (officially) answered is why they didn’t do anything, though speculation has already arisen that people were afraid to say anything out of fear of being considered prejudiced against Islam.

The discussion in the article about officers being promoted despite poor performance Read more

Atheist Lawsuit Against US Military Dismissed

Chalker v Gates, the lawsuit which pitted the MRFF and an atheist Soldier against the Department of Defense, has been dismissed.  The case was brought by Michael Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and US Army Specialist Dustin Chalker.  The primary complaint was that Chalker was forced to attend formations at which Christian prayers were given, though Weinstein used the lawsuit as a forum to accuse the military of promoting Christianity.

According to various reports,

US District Judge Kathryn Vratil ruled Thursday that Chalker failed to exhaust all available remedies before filing suit.

Weinstein has said he will appeal the decision.

The ruling that dismissed the lawsuit (pdf) is slightly more complex than the media summary.  The ruling stated:  Read more

Soldier’s Faith Inspires Him to Help

An Army Lieutenant spearheaded an effort to provide an Iraqi child with the surgery she needed to give her sight.  US Army 1st Lieutenant Jason Hickman’s efforts were in no small part a result of his faith, as he acknowledged that there are no such things as chance occurrences:

“I don’t believe in the traditional sense of the word ‘destiny,’ but I do believe that God puts people in certain places at certain times,” Hickman said. “Things don’t happen solely by coincidence. All you have to do is look for the road signs…”

“The Lord may not push you around the board like a pawn, but every now and again he puts you where he wants you,” Hickman said. “We were supposed to end up in Zwaynat that night. It was just up to us what we were going to do when we got there.”

Read the full story.

Weinstein v Ammerman, Continued

In September, Michael and Bonnie Weinstein filed a civil lawsuit against the Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches and Gordon Klingenschmitt.  The primary issue seems to be Klingenschmitt’s “imprecatory prayer” against Weinstein and Barry Lynn, as was noted in a previous analysis.  (Weinstein has amended his lawsuit twice in the intervening months, but only the original is currently publicly available.)  This case will be interesting for religious freedom in general, not just in the military, since it may delineate what control–if any–the government is willing to place on public prayer.  Initial commentators, including allies of the Weinsteins, doubted they would succeed in their suit.  However, despite the initial furor, there has been little in the media since.

The case continues, however.  It appears one of the initial issues will be jurisdiction, which is a legitimate question in this case.  Weinstein is a resident of New Mexico, the CFGC is headquartered in Texas, and Klingenschmitt is presumed to be a resident of Colorado.  Weinstein is suing in Texas district court.  Since the CFGC is in Dallas, it would appear to make sense that Weinstein would sue the CFGC in Texas.

However, the CFGC’s connection to the complaint is tenuous.  As noted already, the precipitating action in this litigation appears to be a prayer by Klingenschmitt, not anything done or said by the CFGC or its head, Jim Ammerman.  The CFGC’s role in the prayer is nonexistent, except insomuch as Klingenschmitt is a Read more

Christian Military Wives Provide Mutual Support

A local paper covered the social support system of Christian Military Wives, a ministry of the Christian Military Fellowship (see links).  The article recounts the challenges of the wives left behind by husbands deploying for multiple combat tours–in one case, four times in five years.  Besides providing a spiritual resource for like-minded wives, the group also helps with the physical needs of military wives:

Part of the group’s mission is to provide physical needs like babysitting, lawn care, meals or home repairs for military wives “who come to this area, and they don’t have those connections yet,” Fitzgerald said. Scotts Hill Baptist plans to host a Military Wives Conference on May 15 to connect families with resources in the area.

The motivation behind the ministry is fairly simple, and it demonstrates both the family spirit and the relevance of faith to the military culture:

I feel like God calls us to help one another.

That straightforward statement of faith in action should serve as a sentiment that many Christians should seek to share.

Happy New Year, 2010: Top Stories for 2009

A variety of websites that track issues of religion in the public sphere have listed their “top ten” stories for 2009.  Though each uses their own criteria, the resulting lists generally matched the recent trend (as noted last year) in which issues of religion and the military have largely disappeared from the “big stories” over the years.

US News mentioned nothing about the military in their list, nor did the Religion Clause.  BJC Online included a mention about Sikhs and the military at #8 and accusations of military evangelism in “US Foreign Affairs” at #4.  Of these, the Religion News Writers were the only ones to mention US Army Maj Hasan’s Fort Hood massacre (#3).

While ongoing events in the world will likely keep religion near the forefront of current affairs discussions, “controversies” over the interaction between religion and the military do not appear to be the “headlines” that some might think they are.  The year 2009 may have borne that out.  Some of the “biggest” stories on the military and religion were actually non-events, including accusations of Bible distribution in Afghanistan or the plethora of complaints that Chaplains acted illegally or unConstitutionally.

There will always be controversies and media attention.  Still, the belief that some accusations of impropriety are “tempests in a teapot” may be correct.  Perhaps, too, claims of surreptitious military takeovers by religions seeking world domination really are the fringe conspiracy theories they often seem to be.

1 … 334 335 336 337 338 … 378