Chaplain on Service in War
“It was 2003 and we were in the middle of a war…I could see the stress, pain and hopelessness weigh on the people around me. Of course, I felt I had to try and do something.
“So during my first worship service, Read more
Report: Hostility to Religion in US Military
The Liberty Institute recently published a 2014 edition of a 400-page report entitled “Undeniable: The Survey of Hostility to Religion in America” (PDF). Sections I, II, and III are “attacks” in the public arena, schoolhouse, and against churches and other religious ministries, respectively.
For the first time, the report now includes a dedicated Section IV: “Attacks in the Military.”
Similar in theme to the “Clear and Present Danger” published by the Family Research Council, the Liberty Institute report includes a list of 46 incidents representative of the hostility toward religion within the US military [emphasis added]:
Hostility once unthinkable, such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs telling grieving families as they arrive at their loved one’s funeral site that they may not have a religious funeral service, is becoming increasingly routine. Another line of hostility is a new wave of lawsuits attempting to eliminate all symbolism that touches on the numinous from our nation’s veterans memorials…
Religious freedom in the military is protected by the U.S. Constitution, Department Read more
More than 500,000 Biblesticks Provided to US Troops
An article at CrossMap notes that Faith Comes By Hearing, an audio Bible ministry, announced they have now provided more than 500,000 mp3 Bibles to US troops:
Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH) began their Military BibleStick program in 2008…More than 500,000 of these small, digital Audio Bibles have been provided free of charge to America’s brave men and women in uniform. The ministry distributes the devices through active duty chaplains and chaplain assistants. To date, over 1,500 chaplains have requested BibleSticks and participated in the outreach.
As a point Read more
Mikey Weinstein Demands Removal from AFA Bigotry Map
The American Family Association recently made waves when it published an interactive “bigotry map” designed to “expos[e] anti-Christian bigotry in America.”
Highlighted in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is none other than Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
While the atheist Center for Inquiry “demand[ed]” to be added to the AFA’s map, Weinstein’s reaction was not so jovial: He had his lawyers fire off a letter demanding to be removed. In an unusually whiney-sounding missive, Read more
US Veterans Join Christian Militias in Fight against ISIS
While there has been plenty of coverage on foreigners leaving their home countries to join ISIS, somewhat less talked about has been those who have traveled to the region to join the fight against ISIS — some for religious reasons, some for reasons of simple justice, and some probably for their own reasons:
Saint Michael, the archangel of battle, is tattooed across the back of a U.S. army veteran who recently returned to Iraq and joined a Christian militia fighting Islamic State in what he sees as a biblical war between good and evil.
Brett, 28, carries the same thumb-worn pocket Bible he did whilst deployed to Iraq in 2006 – a picture of the Virgin Mary tucked inside its pages and his favourite verses highlighted.
“It’s very different,” he said, asked how the experiences compared. “Here I’m fighting for a people and for a faith, and the enemy is much bigger and more brutal.”
Matthew VanDyke says he is “stepping in where the international community failed.”
In a post on Twitter Thursday, the American said he has spent the last two months “helping to raise a Christian army” in Iraq to fight the Islamic State group.
“The international community does very little for Christians in the Middle East, so if they’re not going to do it, we’ll do it.”
FoxNews even led with a headline of “Onward Christian Soldiers” for a time.
The situation is probably Read more
Chaplains Continue Support in Afghanistan
Even as the war in Afghanistan “ended” last December and US forces have drawn down, US military chaplains continue to serve the needs of US troops on the frontlines:
A Religious Support Team comprised of Airmen assigned to the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Chaplain Corps made the pilgrimage to Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul and Forward Operating Base Oqab to provide spiritual care and religious accommodation to Airmen deployed in austere conditions…
The chaplains Read more
Report: Air Force Actively Recruiting LGBT-Friendly Chaplains
Stephen Boyd, the ecclesiastical endorser for the United Church of Christ (UCC), recently revealed that the US Air Force is actively seeking chaplains that are more friendly to homosexuals. Referring to Chaplain Robert Ward, an Air Force chaplain recruiter, Boyd said:
Chaplain Ward shared that the Air Force has come to realize that the Air Force Chaplain Corps cannot minister to all the men and women who wear the uniform. In the post-Don’t Ask Don’t Tell world and in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act, chaplains who can openly serve the LGB community are scarce…
The Air Force has decided to intentionally recruit men and women from more progressive denominations to serve in the Air Force Chaplain Corps.
To that end, Boyd — who also supports the idea of atheist chaplains — said Ward had sent messages seeking recruiting opportunities to only 12 (of the “more than 200”) military chaplain endorsers: Those 12 had the correct “ecumenical/pluralistic spirit” and Read more
Book Review: One of the Few
Jason Ladd
Ladd Publications
The title and cover imagery of One of the Few: A Marine Fighter Pilot’s Reconnaissance of the Christian Worldview recall the iconic slogan of the US Marine Corps: The Few. The Proud. But the book is about far more than the US Marines. One of the Few is also about “one of the few” Christians and fighter pilots in today’s society.
One of the Few is not a traditional book about fighter pilots. The three-part book does chronicle US Marine Jason Ladd’s journey to become a fighter pilot, and his flying as a fighter pilot in combat. More central to the book, however, is the story of Ladd’s journey to becoming a Christ-follower, a journey that only starts with Ladd’s tortured admission he was living as an atheist for many years.
Ladd comes to that realization through Read more