Mikey Weinstein vs Bill O’Reilly on Combat

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein made a fairly effective effort to focus the debacle of his “interview” with Bill O’Reilly last week on an O’Reilly quote near the end of the piece. After O’Reilly called the removal of the Nativity at Guantanamo a “cowardly” decision and questioned why Weinstein’s anonymous “clients” didn’t have the “cajones” to come on The O’Reilly Factor, Weinstein pushed back with “at least [my clients] joined the military…” In response, O’Reilly said

“I covered four wars with a pen…so don’t impugn my courage ever again.”

That retort can justifiably be criticized — but can Weinstein criticize it? O’Reilly was apparently referring to being a correspondent and experiencing a couple of “firefights.” According to his own admissions, the closest Weinstein came to combat was giving a briefing on the breakup of AT&T. While Weinstein did serve in the Air Force, he spent nearly half his uniformed career as a student.

O’Reilly looked foolish trying to buttress his combat cred with his “pen.” But Weinstein is throwing stones pretty confidently for someone who lives in a glass house.

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Navy Chaplains Denied Preliminary Injunction

In what seems like one of the longest running military religious litigations in recent history (ongoing since 1999, or earlier), the DC Circut denied a preliminary injunction requested by chaplains who have sued over US Navy Chaplain promotion practices.

The short version is the plaintiffs allege the Navy procedures favor Catholic and liturgical chaplains. See prior discussions.

Via the Religion Clause.

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USAFA Chapel Makes World Top 10

As noted at the local Colorado Springs Gazette (via the Stars and Stripes), the US Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel has been named

one of the top 10 most spectacular modern churches by Emporis, a Germany-based compiler of real estate information.

The wing chaplain, Chaplain (Col) Robert Bruno, said

“For a building now 50 years old, I think this is utterly amazing that the Cadet Chapel is in the top-10 listing of the world’s most spectacular churches,” said Col. Robert Bruno, the academy’s chief chaplain.

Given that some of its competition was centuries old, 50 years isn’t too bad.

The chapel is reportedly the most popular man-made attraction in the state of Colorado and has been the source of both pride and controversy.

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Chaplain of the Marine Corps on Faith in the Foxhole

The Marine Corps motto Semper Fidelis means “Always Faithful.” For USMC’s entire existence, Marines and sailors have fought gallantly on the battlefield with ever-present faith. That faith was administered through the wise words of Navy chaplains and religious program specialists, who preach religion to devil dogs and promote ethical and moral behavior as well as provide them guidance. Today, Navy chaplains continue to play an integral role in supporting Marines and sailors to improve combat readiness.

The Chaplain of the Marine Corps, Chaplain (RAdm) Margaret Kibben,  Read more

SecDef Hagel Releases Statement on Same-Sex Benefits

Following the recent kerfuffle over the National Guard and state laws regarding homosexual benefits, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel released a statement seeming to declare the matter closed:

On Oct. 31, I called on the chief of the National Guard Bureau to work with several states to fully implement Department of Defense policy by providing DoD identification cards to all eligible military spouses, regardless of sexual orientation. Following consultations between Read more

Traditional Operation Christmas Drop Continues

The US Air Force conducted its annual Operation Christmas Drop over Micronesia this year:

[Ongoing] since December 1952…Operation Christmas Drop is the longest running humanitarian airlift mission supported by the Department of Defense.

U.S. military service members, their families, and the people of Guam teamed up with the Christmas Drop Organization to ensure a successful mission. The Christmas Drop Organization is a private organization Read more

VA Screens Christian Christmas Cards

Update: The VA’s treatment of Christianity over the past Christmas has caught the attention of Congressman Jeff Miller (R-FL), among others.

A few reports have covered the Veterans’ Administration policy that requires Christmas to be filtered based on its Christian content:

A VA official quoted the policy which is in the Veterans Health Administration handbook:

“In order to be respectful of our veterans’ religious beliefs, all donated holiday cards are reviewed by a multi-disciplinary team of staff led by chaplaincy services and determined if they are appropriate (non-religious) to freely distribute to patients. We regret this process was not fully explained to this group and apologize for any misunderstanding.”

Apparently, this wasn’t the only Christmas event in which Christianity was Read more

Top 10 Military Religious Freedom Stories for 2013

As has been the trend for the past few years, issues of religion and the military seem to have largely fallen from the visibility they once had.  This year, as religious liberty sites have compiled their “top tens” for the year, the focus has largely been on DOMA and the challenges to the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.  The left-leaning Baptist Joint Committee included only one military story, saying the “Pentagon debunks rumors of a policy change on religious expression” in reference to the springtime controversy over Michael “Mikey” Weinstein “consulting” with the Air Force (#9 on the list below).

The Top 10 most-read stories on ChristianFighterPilot.com for 2013:  Read more

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