AFA: Religious Freedom in Military Appreciation Month
May is traditionally considered “Military Appreciation Month.” Sandy Rios of the American Family Association recently said while the military should be appreciated for protecting freedoms around the world, more needs to be done to protect freedoms within the US military: Read more
Special Forces Chaplain on Unconventional Ministry
Christianity Today’s Leadership Journal has an interesting article from US Army Chaplain (Capt) Tim Crawley, probably one of the few chaplains to attend and complete a few Special Forces courses:
After my chaplaincy training, I was given the opportunity to attend the Army’s Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS). Upon successfully completing selection, I was invited to attend the Special Forces Qualification Course, the arduous “Q Course,” approximately 18 months of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion.
Chaplain Crawley writes how the education on Unconventional Warfare had an “uncanny application to ministry leadership.”
His 7-phase application is an interesting Read more
Archdiocese Offers Mass at Recruit Training Center
As noted in an official Navy article, Catholic Bishop Robert Coyle, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, recently visited the US Naval Recruit Training Center at Great Lakes, Illinois. He was able to meet with the Command’s leadership and celebrate communion with trainees at the Recruit Memorial Chapel. As every trainee of every branch knows, the ability to celebrate one’s faith during the intensity of basic training can provide the support and strength to persevere:
During Catholic services at RTC, recruits volunteer to sing in the choir or serve at the altars. Recruits can also offer prayers, read scripture and take Holy Communion. According to Seaman Recruit Katrina Biggs, taking Read more
Air Force May Change Religious Freedom Policy
Mikey Weinstein’s confused take on the Air Force’s policy: It’s like an umbrella in a tsunami…
McClatchy asked the question no other media outlet has in the past few weeks: What ever became of the “offsite” Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said she was convening?
Late last month, James and Welsh convened a “Religious Freedom Focus Day” conference of senior chaplains and legal and manpower officials to discuss the policy. An Air Force spokeswoman, Rose Richeson, declined to make the results of the April 28 meeting public, saying it would be “too premature to provide an interview.”
It would seem, though, someone may have heard what occurred:
Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council…said that based on what he’d heard from people at the meeting he expected the Air Force to “make a policy change shortly.”
The article says Perkins’ statement “alarms supporters of the policy,” and cites exactly one person: Michael “Mikey” Weinstein. The policy Read more
Governor Jindal on War Against Religious Liberty
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal — a Catholic and potential presidential candidate — delivered the commencement at Liberty University on May 10th. Like Chancellor Jerry Falwell, much of what he said focused on the attacks on religious liberty in the United States today:
Today the American people, whether they know it or not, are mired in a silent war…
It is a war — a silent war — against religious liberty…
In this misbegotten and un-American conception of religious liberty, your rights begin and end in the pew. This is ridiculous. We have the right to practice our faith and protect our conscience no matter where we happen to be…
Read more here, or watch the entire Liberty graduation here.
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USCIRF Appointee: Religious Freedom is Fundamental Right
Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest, was recently appointed by President Obama to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. The USCIRF makes policy recommendations to the US government regarding “freedom of religion or belief abroad.”
In a recent column, Reese expounded on the 2014 USCIRF report (published before his appointment) and highlighted the USCIRF’s assertion that religious freedom is a “fundamental human right,” one that even the US doesn’t always get exactly right: Read more
Navy SEALs Marcus Luttrell, Bill Wagasy Talk Faith, Service
Former US Navy SEALs Marcus Luttrell — best known for the book and movie Lone Survivor — and Bill Wagasy recently spoke to a group of Texas high school students on leadership, character, and faith in God.
“Billy and I are kind of cut from the same cloth, if you will,” Luttrell said, mentioning the students should pay attention to Wagasy’s advice. “We started up together, came up together, deployed into combat together…”
Between Wagasy’s talks on honor, developing character, brotherhood, fearing God and developing intellect, the students Read more