Weinstein Complains of “Wretched” Christian Air Force Training



According to the Air Force Times, the Air Force is reviewing “all” materials it uses to teaches “ethics, core values, and character development.”  The reason?

More Christian-themed course work surfaced.

The gross misrepresentation of the Chaplain briefing at Vandenberg, promoted by Michael Weinstein and his “religious freedom” allies, has already been discussed.  The latest issue is a “complaint” about ethics training in ROTC.

The ROTC briefing, called “Core Values and the Air Force Member,” contains references to the Sermon on the Mount and the Ten Commandments as examples of ethical values. Two additional slides list the New Testament teachings of Jesus known as the Beatitudes, and seven of the commandments, including “Have no other gods before me.”

The 22-slide briefing also cites the Golden Rule as an example of ethical values. One of the slides points out that the Golden Rule — “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” — is found in five of the world’s major religions.

Shocking, isn’t it?  A slideshow on ethics gives Christian Read more

President Obama Hosts Ramadan Iftar

Though facing some criticism for ‘ignoring’ Easter this year, President Obama hosted a White House iftar breaking the Ramadan fast last week.  From his statement at the event:

Tonight is part of a rich tradition here at the White House of celebrating the holy days of many faiths…People of different faiths coming together, with humility before our maker, to reaffirm our obligations to one another, because no matter who we are, or how we pray, we’re all children of a loving God.

The President recalled the sacrifice of Army Specialist Kareem Khan, whom he also highlighted at the same event in 2009.  Khan, an American Soldier and Muslim, was killed in action in Iraq in 2007.

Army Chief of Chaplains to Open Fort Hood Chapel Campus

The Army’s Chief of Chaplains, Chaplain (MajGen) Donald Rutherford, is scheduled to open the Fort Hood “Warrior and Family Chapel Campus” today.  The huge multi-million dollar facility will serve the spiritual fitness needs of one of the largest military installations in the US.

The $28 million facility houses approximately 100,000 square-feet devoted to the spiritual fitness of the Fort Hood military community. The four buildings will serve as a multi-purpose activity center, a home for the installation’s Chaplain’s Family Life Training Center, a worship center and a religious education facility.

Fort Hood reportedly has a burgeoning faith community; for example, Catholic service attendance is more than 1,000 each Sunday.

Movie Review: American Fighter Pilot

Tony Scott
Hannover House, 2002.
Topic: F-15 Pilot Training

American Fighter Pilot is an 8-episode TV show that followed three USAF F-15 pilots through their training at Tyndall Air Force Base. The show was almost universally panned for its melodramatic and staccato MTV-like editing. From the perspective of a Christian fighter pilot, this TV series was purchased and reviewed purely because of the constant references to the Christianity and fatherhood of one of the three highlighted student pilots.

The editing critiques were accurate; the show was almost difficult to watch because of the editing style. (The basic content of the video was excellent. One can hope that the original was kept and may one day be made into the 90-minute documentary that was purportedly originally planned.)

Ignoring the poor production, the positives Read more

Jews in the Military

The Algemeiner, a self-described Jewish newspaper, recently had an interesting article chronicling the military service of Jews in the world’s and the US military.

The reason for the article was to address a historical meme:

Throughout history, a common anti-Semitic method of incitement has been to accuse Jews of being unpatriotic. This was often largely expressed in the accusation that Jews were unwilling to join their military.

After a bit of history, the article explains the demographics of the military Read more

US Helps Educate Afghans on Islam

In an interesting mixing of church and state, to borrow the phrase, the US government and the US military facilitated the visit of Islamic Imam Yahya Hendi to Afghanistan so he could speak to them on “justice, Islam in America, and gender equality.”

Hendi’s visit was assisted by the US Embassy and the Paktya Provincial Reconstruction Team.

During his speech, he tied Islamic faith with the Afghan rule of law, Read more

F/A-18 Crashes Off San Diego

The US Coast Guard reported that a Marine F/A-18 flying out of Miramar went down late Wednesday night.  The two crew members ejected and spent four hours in the (relatively chilly) Pacific waters, finally being rescued by Coast Guard assets at around 0230.

After notification of the downed aircraft at 10:15 p.m., the Coast Guard launched assets to begin the rescue mission…The Coast Guard MH-60 Jahawk’s…aircrew maneuvered into position, and the rescue swimmer deployed to recover the Marines, who were hoisted into the helicopter and flown to a hospital.

The rescue effort was substantial:

The Coast Guard Cutter Edisto…, the Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau…, a C-130 Hercules aircraft from Air Station Sacramento — the first asset on the scene — and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Sector San Diego responded.

The names of the crew were not released.  As is usual practice, the military will investigate and report on the mishap in the coming months.

Fort Carson to Open “Resiliency Center”

Continuing the US Army’s focus on Comprehensive Soldier Fitness, Fort Carson is closing one of its gyms to “transform” it into the “Forrest Resiliency Center.”  The center will be

the cornerstone of a Mountain Post Resiliency Campus that includes a super gym, a behavioral health facility and a child development center.

While the news release focuses largely on the “super gym” and health issues associated with deploying, the Resiliency Campus will include “spiritual” Read more

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