President Obama on Religious Freedom

I think that we should foster a culture in which people’s private religious beliefs, including atheists and agnostics, are respected and that’s the kind of culture that I think allows all of us then to believe what we want. That’s freedom of conscience. That’s what the Constitution guarantees.

And where we get into problems typically is when our personal religious faith or the community of faith that we participate in tips into a sort of fundamentalist extremism in which it’s Read more

US Military Changing to Match Morality of Society

In its ultimate form, the military is an institution of government-sanctioned violence to achieve the Nation’s objectives. The military requires legitimacy for its actions, and its institutional morality forms the “high ground” from which it can wage war.

As has been obvious for the past few years, that institutional morality has been changing. As noted in a recent article on loosening standards for recruitment:

The Pentagon is…scrambl[ing] to keep up with America’s changing social mores…

One specific quote within the article noted the weakness of such a goal:  Read more

Harassed by Mikey Weinstein, Part 2: The Motivation for His Crusade

The recent demand letter sent to ChristianFighterPilot.com by Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s lawyers wasn’t the first. In fact, seven years ago this coming week, Randal “Randy” Mathis first introduced himself here:

mathisweinstein4The reason for this first letter was an article entitled “MRFF: Chaplain’s Sermons Permissible, Sort of,” which pointed out the flagrant inconsistency between Chris Rodda and Read more

US Marine Trades M-16 for Helping Hand in Iraq

calebdrownCaleb Drown was a sergeant in the US Marine Corps when he deployed to Iraq in 2006, believing he could “save the world with an M-16.” Instead, the saw the needs of the people there.

He’s now traded his former military role for one at Samaritan’s Purse, which is providing humanitarian assistance along with other groups at near Mosul, Iraq.

Giving up his uniform, though, didn’t mean giving up his Read more

Air Force Colonel Implores Christian Troops to Live Faith Boldly

In an official Air Force article, a US Air Force Wing Commander and Colonel encouraged his fellow Airmen to “lead fearlessly” and speak boldly and “honest[ly]” about their faith [emphasis added]:

Lead fearlessly and…take advantage of your right to be honest with your fellow airmen. I know this may still be difficult for some, but I can tell you first hand [this] is truly a liberating and enriching experience—one that makes you a better leader and the Air Force a better place to serve.

That was Col Scott McLaughlin, 446th Airlift Wing commander, a reserve airlift wing at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.

In actuality, though, he wasn’t talking Read more

US Military Launched Investigation into Content of Chaplain’s Prayer

costin

The US Department of Defense Inspector General recently revealed it had ordered the Air Force to investigate the content of a chaplain’s prayer.

The context was the now well-known complaint by Michael “Mikey” Weinstein against US Air Force Chief of Chaplains (MajGen) Dondi Costin. In response to Weinstein’s complaint, the DoD IG said [emphasis added]:

We asked the Air Force IG to examine both the act of giving the benediction and its content. After conducting interviews and gathering additional facts, the Air Force IG found that Maj Gen Costin’s benediction was a generic, non-sectarian prayer seeking God’s blessing on the event’s honoree…

This is a shocking revelation, particularly in light of who did it. What business does the DoD Inspector General have analyzing the content of a chaplain’s prayer? Under what authority Read more

Mikey Weinstein’s John Compere Fails in Air Force Times Rebuttal

On 8 November, the Air Force Times published its letters to the editor online. Among them was one from retired US Navy Commander Wayne Johnson, who took Michael “Mikey” Weinstein to task for his attacks against US Air Force LtCol Michael Kersten.

Johnson had some advice for the Air Force. Rather than telling Weinstein to pound sand, Johnson suggested something simpler:

Nuts! [emphasis added]

‘NUTS’ TO DEMAND

In a recent interview with base public affairs for a Meet Your Leadership series at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Kersten, 39th Medical Support Squadron commander, mentioned his Christian faith and quoted the Bible.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation and its president, Mikey Weinstein, is demanding the Air Force rebuke what Kersten said as well as punish him. If the Air Force has real integrity, it should respond to this demand with the words of Army Brig. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe, commander Read more

1 … 96 97 98 99 100 … 608