Gene Robinson, famous as the first homosexual bishop in the Anglican church, wrote an opinion piece in USA Today demonstrating the lack of understanding some opponents of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” have about the military, regulations, and the law. In his piece, he criticizes the reply by ADF attorney Daniel Blomberg that said “religious liberty is in real jeopardy” should DADT be repealed.
First, Robinson says: Read more
Recent articles have highlighted the moral struggle faced by Christian men and women in the US military. When the US Air Force Academy established an official area for pagan congregation, it aroused a wide variety of emotions, from those who found the pagan belief system repulsive to those who felt anyone should be free to do as they please. Military Christians, too, experienced tension between the tenets of their faith and the dictates of their profession.
Following an article documenting the creation of the Academy pagan area, a commenter highlighted this very conflict (as she intended) when she asked:
That’s great news…It shows a willingness to be accepting of “other” faiths. Don’t you think it’s great news?
Is the creation of a pagan circle at the US Air Force Academy “great news?” There are two distinct perspectives at issue, that of a Christian and that of a member of the military. Ultimately, they form the perspective of a military Christian. Read more
In a flashback to an item noted earlier this month, the city of Phoenix, AZ, was extremely grateful for the prayer at a City Council meeting led by Hindu Rajan Zed.
[Zed] started and ended the prayer with “Om”, the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work. Zed sprinkled few drops of sacred water from river Ganga in India around the podium before the prayer.
Zed also provided the Mayor and the AZ Secretary of State with a copy of the religious text Bhagavad-Gita.
Meanwhile, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State continues to complain about Christian prayers in other cities, as has the ACLU in the past. Even Read more
The third installment of pictures documenting religion and its place in the US military begins with photographs of free exercise. The first set includes photographs of the US military’s efforts to support expressions of the Jewish faith.
These pictures continue to demonstrate that the US military goes out of its way to support the free exercise of its troops, even when that free exercise might raise eyebrows among conspiracy theorists when it is associated with the US government or the US military. Celebrations of holy days, the wearing of religious artifacts in uniform, religious celebrations while armed and in uniform, even something as simple as a bar mitzvah in Iraq are shown among the photographs.
Men and women of faith can be in – and express their faith within — the US military. These pictures and those to come – all of which are publicly available – show that faith has a fitting and integral role in many lives in the military.
These photo galleries are now part of the Resources page of ChristianFighterPilot.com.
In the debate on the policy commonly known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” some have taken to saying service by open homosexuals is no morally different to religion than is service by those who have divorced and/or remarried. That argument fails, however, because the military works actively to support marriages and prevent divorce: Read more
On 13 July 2010 US Army 1LT Chris Goeke was killed in combat in Afghanistan. He was one of three Soldiers to die in that firefight and his loss, like theirs, has been mourned across the continents.
The legacy of Goeke lives on, however. He was known not only as a good Soldier, but also as a good Christian. This was told in the first person by his friend, Rajiv Srinivasan, a Hindu, at a blog at the New York Times:
Chris discovered his personal relationship with God and served as one of his finest Christian servants… Read more
On the continuing theme of military papers discussing religion in the military comes Lt Col Jimmy M. Browning’s “Religious Expression or Religious Coercion: Commanders Caught in the Crossfire.” LtCol Browning, a Colonel-select, was an Air War College student when he published the paper in February of this year. He is also a USAF Chaplain.
The paper brings an interesting perspective to the “conflict” between those who believe in a right to religious expression and those who believe religious expression is de facto coercion in a military environment:
[The] Military Religion [sic] Freedom Foundation (MRFF) is one group that describes itself as a watchdog against religious coercion…These groups are especially leery of evangelical Read more
The Sikh Times notes the continuing struggle of minority religions in Afghanistan, focusing primarily on Sikhs and Hindus. One Sikh, Awtar Singh, is the only non-Islamic member of Afghanistan’s parliament, and he feels powerless to support those of his or other minority faiths:
“No one in the government listens to us, but we have to be patient, because we have no other options,” says Singh…
While tens of thousands of Muslim Afghans have [similar] problems, they at least have politicians or leaders fighting their corner.
The article also noted a fascinating highlight of the differing cultural understandings and acceptance of religious freedom:
Afghan Hindus were baffled by Western outrage at one Taliban decree – ordering them to wear a yellow tag to identify their religion Read more