On Christianity, Children, Transgenders, and President Trump

“Children should not be turned into pawns of culture war experimentation…

“There are good reasons to put boys and girls in different bathrooms and locker rooms and sometimes sports teams, reasons that don’t impugn the dignity of people but uphold it… Every human being knows that there are important, and necessary, differences between men and women. Without such recognition, women are harmed and men are coarsened…

“If anything, there’s much more of a case to be made that one can feel to be a different age than one’s doctor’s exam or birth certificate would show…It’s something else entirely if chronological self-identity is Read more

Complaints Claim “Real Men Provide” is Sexist Toward Women

A fascinatingly simple and pithy billboard in North Carolina has generated an unusual amount of attention and angst:

A billboard appeared last weekend on a highway connecting the city of Winston-Salem to Greensboro that reads, “Real men provide. Real women appreciate it.”

One woman is organizing a protest against the billboard, calling it insulting — but only insulting to women:

Molly Grace, a boutique owner in Winston-Salem, said she sees the sign as an attempt to silence women who want to be seen as equals to men.

“It’s absolutely, absolutely insulting to single mothers, to women who Read more

US Navy Chaplain Brings Islam to Africa

People tend to connect more through their faith than anything else.
– Chaplain Abuhena Saifulislam

US Navy Chaplain (Cmdr) Abuhena Saifulislam, stationed in Ramstein Air Base, Germany, as the USAFRICOM deputy command chaplain, recently spent a week in Djibouti

with members of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa Religious and Civil Affairs, they met with the deputy director of Islamic affairs for Djibouti, the Sultan of Tadjoura and representatives of the Red Crescent Society of Djibouti among others.

Besides meeting with local leaders, Saifulislam participated in religious Read more

US Air Force Academy Hosts Annual Prayer Luncheon

Quietly and without controversy, the US Air Force Academy hosted its annual prayer luncheon last week.

The keynote address came from motivational speaker DJ “Eagle Bear” Vanas, a 1993 USAFA graduate and “enrolled member” of the Odawa Nation, a Native American tribe:

“Our spirituality makes us strong from the inside-out,” he said. “It strengthens and sustains us…

When we practice our spiritual faith, we make better decisions.”

The USAFA article references only Read more

Navy Chaplain Returns to his Buddhist Roots

An official DoD article recounts the interesting story of Aroon Seeda, a 13-year-old Buddhist monk in training in 1988 who met a group of US Marines — and then decided he wanted to become one.

He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2008 with the goal of becoming a chaplain. He received his citizenship several months after completing basic training and attained his goal in two years and seven months.

Chaplain Aroon Seeda is the only Buddhist chaplain in the Department of the Navy…

Now-Chaplain Seeda returned to Thailand recently in Read more

Chaplain Strengthens Marriage as Army Ends Strong Bonds

US Army Chaplain (LtCol) Kevin Leideritz is the first permanently assigned chaplain to US Special Operations Command-Europe. A recent article describes his hosting of a marriage retreat at Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch, Germany, at the end of January.

Leideritz…seized the opportunity to work with couples to better understand their individual personality traits, their partner’s love languages and ways to enhance a more healthy relationship during the three-day retreat.

In an interesting twist, the article made a couple of references to “strengthening bonds” without using the actual name “Strong Bonds,” the Army’s long-running program of marriage enrichment retreats. It may be an early indicator of what inside sources have already revealed: Strong Bonds is ending.

It seems the chaplaincy resiliency program is falling victim to Read more

Retired Chaplain Calls for Defense of Military Religious Freedom

Governmental discrimination against people of faith in the armed forces is unacceptable and will impact the morale of any unit…

It has been the norm for these last eight years for service members to be pressured to renounce their religious views on topics like sexuality — or be punished for not doing so — as well as other attacks on religious freedom in the military. This “religious cleansing” has national security implications.

Mr. Trump should quickly change Read more

Atheists Demand End to Prayers at Pease Air National Guard Base

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has demanded that New Hampshire’s Pease Air National Guard (Facebook) base stop including prayer in association with official events:

A concerned guardsman informed FFRF that ceremonies at the Pease Air National Guard Base regularly have chaplains delivering invocations. These include readings from the bible and references to a Christian god. Attendance at these ceremonies is mandatory for all guardsmen.

The FFRF’s legal analysis was short and to the point:  Read more

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