Congressman Calls Idea of Atheist Chaplain “Total Nonsense”

Update: The House passed the Appropriations bill along with the amendment referenced below requiring chaplains to have endorsers — effectively prohibiting non-theistic chaplains (along with any new endorsers).  Rep Doug Collins (R-Ga) accused atheist activists of having the real goal of covertly undermining the entire institution of the military chaplaincy.

The Obama Administration has threatened to veto the 2014 Department of Defense Appropriations Act, saying it is too generous with military pay and too stingy with civilian pay.

As a point of clarification, the Defense Appropriations Act is a distinct entity from the Defense Authorization Act (or NDAA), which has been the point of focus for the past few months.  The Authorization Act describes how the US DoD is “authorized” to organize and operate; the Appropriations Act “appropriates” the money to accomplish that end.

The appropriations bills were actually already passed by each house of Congress, but have yet to come out of conference committee.

Additionally, the recent push for atheist chaplains has now generated an official Congressional response — twice.  First, US Rep Jared Polis (D-Co) offered an amendment (#295) to the authorization act that would have permitted  Read more

Former Marine Pilot Opposes Religious Freedom Bill

Pentagon spokesman Nate Christensen stressed that the Defense Department celebrates religious diversity and that military personnel have the full right to exercise their religious beliefs, as long as doing so does not negatively affect the military’s mission or other individuals’ rights.

Tom Carpenter is a co-chair of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy — a group that advocated for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell — a 1970 US Naval Academy graduate, and a former US Marine A-4 pilot.  He recently came out against religious freedom legislation now supported by the endorsing bodies of the vast majority of US military chaplains.  (Carpenter recently repeated near-verbatim atheist talking points rebutting some of the most recent claims of hostility toward religious freedom in the military.)

In apparent shock, Carpenter said, for example:  Read more

US Soldier Files Conscientious Objector Application

US Army Private Chris Munoz has reportedly filed an application to be a conscientious objector — just days before his unit ships out to Afghanistan.  His lawyer, James Branum, said he’s actually been trying to do it since about halfway through basic training last year:

At weapons training, he really began to think about what he was being asked to do. He was told there could come a situation where he might be forced to fire on a child. He realized then he could not Read more

Marines Allow Uniforms in “Pride” Parade, DoD Quantifies Homosexuals

The US Marine Corps permitted its members to wear their uniforms in the San Diego homosexual “pride” parade.

As noted at the Air Force Times,

According to the Pentagon, an estimated 5,600 active-duty troops and 3,400 National Guard and Reserve members are in same-sex marriages and relationships.

Notably, in the run-up to DADT repeal, the Department of Defense had repeatedly said it would not attempt to quantify the sexuality of US troops.  From the Support Plan for Implementation

The Department of Defense and the Services should continue their policy against requesting, collecting, or maintaining information about the sexual orientation of Service members.

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MRFF Threatens Lawsuit over Military Religious Liberty Bill

Michael Weinstein has threatened to file a lawsuit if Congress passes the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act with the religious liberty amendment intact.

Weinstein said that he would immediately sue if the amendment passes, calling it “completely unconstitutional.”

No one need worry.  It seems every time you turn around Weinstein is threatening to sue someone.  (For a short list, web search “Mikey Weinstein tell it to the judge.”)  Weinstein followed through on his threats against the US military only four times (and lost every time).  He then promised to appeal (“Technicality!” he cried)… and he then did nothing.  He appears to know that saying “I’ll sue” will get him quoted in the press, which is all he really wants.

As an aside, it is somewhat entertaining to see how the Religion News Service described Weinstein: Read more

Who Speaks for US Military Catholics?

The Catholic Register has an interesting piece highlighting the discussion here just last week, in which MRFF researcher Chris Rodda and Catholic League Bill Donohue both seemed to claim to represent Catholics in the US military.  The Register indicates the Catholic Military Diocese’s press release supporting the religious freedom amendments was due, in part, to a need to remind people that the Catholic Church is the representative of Catholics in the US military:

Mikey Weinstein…argue[s] that the real threat to the free exercise of religion in the military comes from aggressive evangelical groups that have targeted Catholic service members…  He has presented himself as the defender of…Catholic…soldiers beseiged by “right-wing” Christian fundamentalists.

On July 17, the Archdiocese for the Military Services (AMS) stepped into the fray, issuing a statement by AMS general counsel John Schlageter that identified the AMS as the “official voice of Catholics in the military.”

While the article is broadly written, it specifically calls out the claims only of Michael Weinstein and Chris Rodda; it mentions Read more

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