Albert Mohler on Dangerous Evangelicals

Though the furor has died down in the intervening few months, an October column by R. Albert Mohler, Jr, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, attempted to address the then-prominent controversy over Christians and Christianity in political life.  Whether you call it “dominionism” or just “fundamentalism,” Mohler took on the issue of those who are decrying the rise of “Christian nationalism.”  He asks:

What is so scary about America’s evangelical Christians?

and notes the chorus of voices warning about the rise of a Christian “theocratic state,” “Christian nationalism,” and a usurpation by Read more

Atheists Fight Marines over Camp Pendleton Cross

Update: Another California paper accuses the LA Times of being “too close” to Camp Pendleton in their failure to get an “obligatory” comment from the ACLU when they first reported on the Camp Horno cross.

An Associated Press article updates the protest by atheist Jason Torpy over the memorials located on Camp Horno, on the Camp Pendleton Marine post in California.  It repeats much of the recent local article, noting a decision isn’t coming until next year, though its title is telling:

Atheists, Marines debate Camp Pendleton crosses

Even if inadvertently, the AP accurately notes it is a ‘battle’ between Torpy and the US Marines, not any other group.

The article also says Torpy is happy for the rest of the memorial to remain, just not the cross.  Ironically, this seems to counter not only the concept of Read more

Book Review: Miracles and Moments of Grace

Nancy Kennedy
Leafwood, 2011

Miracles and Moments of Grace, subtitled Inspiring Stories from Military Chaplains, is a noble attempt at telling the stories of military Chaplains. Each of its 50 chapters is a story from a military Chaplain, most told in a first person narrative.  Almost all of the Chaplains are from a Christian faith tradition; a few Jewish Chaplains are included.

The stories cover the gamut of the modern Chaplaincy, with tales of Chaplains preventing troops’ suicide, notifying families of their Soldier’s death, or giving a first hand account of the bombings in Beirut or Khobar Towers. In that regard, it shows the wide array Read more

Study: Top Cause of PTSD is Moral Guilt

In an era in which society encourages each to do his own thing, and “right” is a relative term, a recent study seems to indicate many people do inherently have an understanding of morality at their core — and this may sometimes conflict with the actions required by military combat:

The conflicts that troops feel can range from survivor guilt from living through an attack where other troops died, to witnessing or participating in the unintentional killing of women or children, said researchers involved in the study.

The key quote comes near the end of the article:  Combat experienced US Marines were the subject group, and the study showed

Their condition [PTSD] was more closely linked to an inner conflict Read more

Canadian Court Rules Against Multiple Marriages

While Canada’s acceptance of homosexuality was occasionally held up as a contrast to their southern cousins in the United States, it seems Canada hasn’t worked out all the moral issues associated with “sexual freedom,” either.

In late November British Columbia’s superior trial court upheld Canada’s law banning polygamy and polyamory.

Interestingly, the court found that such prohibitions did violate the religious liberty of some groups — including some Mormons, Muslims, and Wiccans — but the law Read more

Purple Heart for Soldier Killed in Arkansas?

Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn) has joined lawmakers from Texas and Arkansas who have been lobbying to have victims of the Fort Hood and Arkansas recruiting center attacks awarded Purple Hearts.

At a hearing Wednesday, Lieberman said he will try to insert an amendment in the annual defense authorization bill (currently in conference committee) to award a posthumous Purple Heart to Army recruiter Pvt. William Long, who was killed in a brazen 2009 shooting by a radical Islamic adherent.

The Purple Heart is awarded for wounds due to combat.  In order to award the medal, the US government would have to recognize the attack in Arkansas by Abdulhakim Muhammad — now serving a life sentence for the attack — as an act of combat by the enemy.  The same justification might ultimately be used for every other attack by terrorists inside the borders of the United States, including the attack at Fort Hood (“allegedly”) by US Army Maj Nidal Malik Hasan.

Interestingly, that would also open up such attacks to charges of treason Read more

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