National Guard Marks 10 Years Since Shootdown, Death of Wiccan Soldier

A Nevada National Guard article marked the 10th anniversary of the crash of Mustang 22, a CH-47 that was shot down in Afghanistan in 2005. (The article was written on the anniversary in September, though published only recently.)

Last autumn marked the 10th anniversary since the Nevada National Guard lost two Soldiers in the worst helicopter accident in Nevada Guard history. Chief Warrant Officer 3 John Flynn and Sgt. Patrick Stewart were killed on Sept. 25, 2005, when their CH-47 Chinook helicopter, Mustang 22, was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade while flying over Afghanistan…

Flynn and Stewart were the second and third Read more

Pilot Nate Saint, Ecuador Missionaries, Martyred 60 Years Ago

saintsLast week, Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) noted it was exactly 60 years ago on January 8, 1956, that Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming and Roger Youderian were killed by the Waoranis (Auca), an unreached native people the group had been hoping to evangelize. Saint had flown the group out in his PA-13 and landed on a riverbank.

The story made international news, including a 10-page story in LIFE Magazine entitled “Go Ye and Preach the Gospel – Five Do and Die.” The US Air Force deployed Read more

Critics Try to Out Retired Gen Bob Dees, Carson Campaign Chairman

Over the past months, a few critics have tried to draw attention to one particular person on the staff of Republican Presidential candidate Ben Carson.

Originally his foreign policy advisor, Carson’s new campaign chairman is Bob Dees, a retired US Army Major General and former executive director of Campus Crusade for Christ (now “Cru“) which had a substantial ministry to the US armed forces called Military Ministry (now “CruMilitary“).

As early as November 10th of last year, James Bamford at Foreign Policy described Dees as

a retired general who believes Muslims pose a threat to the U.S., the military should spread Christianity, and Carson should be president.

But the statements that Bamford apparently found ‘disturbing’ were fairly benign:  Read more

Military Chaplains Might No Longer “Conquer”

The Australian Daily Telegraph reports that the Australian Army is considering redesigning a military chaplaincy badge that says “In this sign, conquer.”

In a somewhat inflammatory reporting style [emphasis added]:

The Australian Army is removing the motto “In this sign conquer” from the 102-year-old hat badges of army chaplains because it is offensive to Muslims.

The move comes after an imam approved by the Grand Mufti was appointed to join the Religious Advisory Committee to the Services in June.

Australian Army chaplains have had the motto on their hat badges since 1913.

A Defence spokeswoman last Read more

US Military Faithful: ‘Not the Country They Swore to Defend’

The Washington Post covered the stories of some current and former US military members who are Muslim, and who are “disturbed by the rising anti-Muslim sentiment” in the United States [emphasis added]:

Many American Muslims say they are living through a difficult time in this country. For the Muslims who are former and current service members, the prejudice and anti-Muslim rhetoric is particularly painful. Those interviewed for this story said that hateful comments have driven a wedge between them and the country they swore to defend.

Commenters were quick to point out that one could just as easily say anti-Christian sentiment within society and the US military has made America a “different US than the one they swore to defend.” In fact, so many brought up this diverging culture in 2011 — regarding the acceptance of open homosexuality within Read more

Mikey Weinstein Attacks Religious Liberty Advocate

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein frequently shows off his “hate mail,” using the threats and invective shown against him as an attempt to legitimize his cause. His presentation of himself as a victim — which he uses to garner sympathy and donations — rings hollow, however, given the “hate mail” Weinstein participates in himself.

Weinstein published an attack on the religious liberty of US Air Force Academy cadets in the local Colorado Springs Gazette, calling their conduct a violation of regulations, the law, and the US Constitution. Weinstein’s personal invective associated these cadets with what he called a

virulent strain of fundamentalist Christian supremacy, triumphalism, and exceptionalism

In a reasoned defense of military religious freedom, Liberty Institute attorney Mike Berry — himself a Reserve Marine JAG — published his own column in the Gazette as a response, saying the MRFF and Weinstein were “wrong on the history and the law.”  That was as “personal” as the well-presented column got.

In a response to Berry’s column quoted at the Daily Caller, Mikey Weinstein  Read more

1 … 132 133 134 135 136 … 608