Tag Archives: Military

Air Force Seeks DoD Review of Oath

Update: Patrick Vaughn, general counsel for the American Family Association, wrote an article saying “The U.S. Constitution makes it clear: American atheists are not and should not be barred from serving their country through military service.”

Facing scrutiny for its letter-of-the-law requirement that Airmen enlist with “So help me God,” the Air Force has asked the DoD General Counsel to provide an official legal opinion:

The Air Force said Tuesday it was awaiting a legal opinion from the Defense Department’s top lawyer on whether an enlisted airman who’s an atheist can opt out of the phrase “so help me God” in his re-enlistment oath…

“The opinion that we’re seeking will help inform future decisions and the latitude that can be taken with the oath,” Air Force spokeswoman Rose Richeson said Tuesday. “But the Air Force has to comply with law.”

From an objective position, Read more

Mikey Weinstein Threatens Lawsuit over Navy Bibles

Update: A variety of groups signed a letter to the Navy asking them to allow the Bibles to remain in the Navy lodges.

Riding the coattails of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein has threatened to sue the US Navy if it fails to remove Bibles from its lodging rooms:

If the Navy refuses to pull the Bibles “out of every single room,” said Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, “we are looking to file a federal lawsuit.”

For the record, Weinstein threatens to sue someone at every turn.  It is likely this threat is as empty as virtually all the others.  (He lost the few lawsuits he filed many years ago, further undermining his threats.)

Weinstein’s apparent paranoia was on full display:  Read more

Air Force Oath: Atheists Protest Right Thing the Wrong Way

The American Humanist Association — the same group vying for an atheist chaplain — has threatened to sue the Air Force because the military enlistment oath ends in “So help me God,” and an Airman at Creech AFB lined out part of the oath on his enlistment form:

According to the AHA, the unnamed airman was told Aug. 25 that the Air Force would not accept his contract because he had crossed out the phrase “so help me God.”…

That is unconstitutional and unacceptable, the AHA said.

“The government cannot compel a nonbeliever to take an oath that affirms the existence of a supreme being,” Miller said. “Numerous cases affirm that atheists have the right to omit theistic language from enlistment or reenlistment contracts.”

They’re correct. The problem with the AHA’s position is they demonstrated an amazing lack of comprehension of the law — and basic public relations skills.

After three pages of pontificating in their demand letter, the AHA Read more

President Proclaims Days of Prayer and Remembrance

President Obama proclaimed 5-7 September “as National Days of Prayer and Remembrance”:

Each year as our Nation mourns, our faith restores us and summons within us the sense of common purpose we rediscovered after the attacks. Prayer and humble reflection carry us forward on the path we travel together…These lasting virtues sustain us not just for one day, but every day.

On this solemn anniversary, let us reaffirm the fundamental American values of freedom and tolerance — values that stand in stark contrast to the nihilism of those who attacked us. Let Read more

Vietnam POW Lee Ellis Returns to Hanoi Hilton

The Stars and Stripes chronicles the return of retired US Air Force Col Lee Ellis to the Hanoi Hilton — the infamous POW prison that housed him for more than two of the six years of his capture.

Other memories came floating back — leg irons and handcuffs, rubber sandals to make it difficult to escape, a steady diet of pumpkin soup alternating with months of cabbage soup, and a first meal as a prisoner of fish heads and rice, which apparently was standard fare for new captives. Before missions, pilots used to joke with each other to be careful or they’d be eating fish heads that night. Read more

Military Christians Targeted in Face of Islamic Extremism

Recent news reports indicate two US citizens were recently killed while fighting on the side of the terror group known as ISIS, which has declared an “Islamic state” in northern Iraq and eastern Syria.  (Reports indicate that makes at least three Americans killed fighting on the side of the Islamic extremists so far, and others want to.)

A second American citizen who died fighting for terror group ISIS in Syria has been identified as Abdirahmaan Muhumed of Minneapolis, reports have said.

Fox News reported that the 29-year-old Somali-American died in the same battle as Douglas McArthur McCain, the first American to be identified as having died on the Islamic militant side.

It turns out former US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the man sentenced to death for killing more than a dozen of his fellow soldiers in the 2009 massacre, wants to become a citizen of this new Islamic state (more proof, some say, the attack was an act of terrorism, not “workplace violence“).

In an interesting bit of timing, Army Sgt Hasan Akbar — sentenced Read more

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