Bill Nye, Ken Ham Debate Meets Military Cheating Scandals

There’s a fascinating philosophical connection between the debate of Bill Nye and Ken Ham over creationism on the one hand, and reports the US Department of Defense is becoming increasingly “troubled” over troops’ ethical problems on the other.

First, Dr. Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, attended the Nye/Ham debate (viewable on YouTube) and made an interesting assessment. The debate wasn’t, in the end, over facts. It was over worldview — and Bill Nye’s faith that “human reason” was an ultimate solution [emphasis added]:

Bill Nye repeatedly cited the reasonable man in making his arguments. He is a firm believer in autonomous human reason and the ability of the human intellect to solve the great problems of existence without any need of divine revelation…He sees himself as the quintessential “reasonable man,” and he repeatedly dismissed Christian Read more

Lockheed Still Building F-16s, 40 Years On

In 2012, Lockheed Martin delivered the last F-22 off its assembly line, a mere 9 years after the first delivery of a production F-22 in 2003. The original F-22 buy plan had been 750 aircraft. The number eventually dwindled to less than 200 — with each reduction resulting in per-unit increase in cost.

By contrast, the first F-16 was delivered to the Air Force in 1979 (after the first test flight in 1974). As noted in a local paper (and repeated at the Stars and Stripes), Lockheed (who bought General Dynamics) is still churning out the F-16 after more than 4,500 have been delivered worldwide.

It is worth remembering that while technology Read more

Military Spouses and Marijuana

After a few states recently legalized marijuana, a local paper’s article on the military and marijuana, repeated at the Stars and Stripes, raises the question of how the military will treat the active duty spouses of civilian marijuana dealers. The active duty member would be married to, federally speaking, an illegal drug dealer — though the federal government has declined to pursue such charges when the states have legalized it.  (The Air Force Academy recently reminded Airmen and cadets that marijuana was still illegal for them.)

The state law [legalizing marijuana] is in direct conflict with federal law and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which criminalize possession and distribution of pot. A service member who is found carrying drugs, or tests positive for them, may face administrative separation or worse. Security Read more

Airman on Being an Atheist in the Military (Video)

An Air Force Airman posting as “A1C Venom” has started a YouTube page in which he comments on various issues of religion, including “Atheism in the Military.” His video is calmly presented and not altogether unbalanced, though a few of his comments are confusing, leading one to wonder if he actually understands some of what he’s saying or how well informed he is.

For example, he states at the beginning of the video that he’s “seen a lot of discrimination” as an atheist in the military, yet he doesn’t provide a single example of discrimination. He does talk about prayer at military events (which he feels is Read more

Klingenschmitt: Chaplain’s Statement Proves Need for Protections

Former US Navy Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt recently responded to testimony by the Rev James Magness, the Episcopal Church’s Armed Forces Bishop, given at the House Armed Services Committee (previously discussed here):

Klingenschmitt calls it arrogant for James Magness, the Washington National Cathedral’s bishop for the armed forces, to say that chaplains who pray in Jesus’ name risk offending non-Christian troops and harming unit cohesion.

“This quote by him demonstrates exactly the reason Read more

Air Force Pilot Gives it All to God

The US Air Force published an interesting story about 2Lt Abraham Morland, whose origins may be a little unique but whose desires about Air Force flying are probably pretty common:

Second Lt. Abraham Morland…held dual citizenship in both the United States and the United Kingdom. He was born to British parents in Tulsa, Okla., where his father worked as a flight simulator technician…

“My real love was America, I wanted to come back home to the states and join the U.S. Air Force,” he said.

As a result, his parents moved back to the United Sates so their son could pursue his dream of becoming an American pilot.

Morland ultimately enlisted and then spent years trying to Read more

Paper Revives DADT Survey Debate

The Department of Defense “studied” the impact of repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” by performing a much-contested survey of US troops in 2010. While the effort was reportedly intended to gather data and draw conclusions based upon that data, there were accusations at the time its actual purpose was to justify repeal — not assess its impact.

The Washington Post recently revived the DADT debate when it wrote about one of the two co-chairs of the survey, then-DoD General Counsel Jeh Johnson, in an article entitled “Four straight black men who led on gay rights.” The article seemed to allude Read more

Congress Asks Tough Questions of Military Chaplain Chiefs

As previously noted, the House Armed Services subcommittee on military personnel heard testimony from several witnesses on religious freedom in the military after the DoD’s recent changes to accommodation policy.

The Stars and Stripes noted that while many have focused on ‘turbans and beards,’ Congress didn’t:

Accommodation for minority religions was not the main concern of the primarily Republican House members present Wednesday, however. Many of their questions centered around allegations that free expression of faith by Christian believers was being suppressed…

Instances of Christians being told Read more

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