Tag Archives: sam johnson

Critics Falsify Congressman’s “So Help Me God” Bill

Several critics — primarily on the liberal-leaning, anti-religious freedom side — have laid into US Congressman Sam Johnson (R-Tx) for his “Preserve and Protect God in Military Oaths Act of 2015” — and it is abundantly clear that none of them actually read the proposed bill.

Most of the critics portrayed the act as some version of requiring enlisting military members to “pledge to God” during their military oaths — something that recalls issues with the US Air Force and Air Force Academy in 2013. One employee of the Air Force Academy summed up much of the criticism when he tweeted to the Congressman (thick with irony):

What part of “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” did you miss, sir?

You are in Congress. You are sponsoring a bill to establish Christianity as a state religion. Have you READ the Constitution?

— Phoenix Blue (@Phoenix_Blue) March 23, 2015

Similarly, an astonishingly ignorant Michael “Mikey” Weinstein claimed Read more

Religious Liberty Attacks in America “Resemble Time at Hanoi Hilton”

US Rep Sam Johnson (R-Tx), a Vietnam era Air Force fighter pilot, wrote at the Christian Post that attacks on religious liberty in the United States “resemble my time in the Hanoi Hilton.”

You see, I endured painful torture at the hands of communists. I brutally experienced what it’s like to truly lose the privilege to worship as you see fit. As a prisoner of war in Vietnam for almost seven years, more than half of that time in solitary confinement, I withered away in a cellblock so isolating it could only be called Alcatraz.

Referring to a report by Senator Ted Cruz, Johnson says  Read more

Congressmen Introduce Military Oath Bill, Chide Weinstein

After USAFA appeared to capitulate to Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s complaints that “so help me God” violated the US Constitution, two Congressmen have proposed legislation that would require “Congressional approval” before changes can be made to military oaths.  The bill was proposed by Reps Sam Johnson and Pete Olson (R-Tx).  Though the text is not available, the current lengthy title says the purpose of HR 3416 is

to require congressional approval before any change may be made to the oaths required for enlistment in the Armed Forces, appointment to an office in the civil service or uniformed services, or appointment as a cadet or midshipman at a military service academy…

Astute observers will note that has nothing to do with USAFA’s Cadet Honor Oath.  Similarly, the oaths to which that legislation does apply are already enshrined Read more