Tag Archives: Military

The Patriotic God-Gap in America

CNN’s religion blog highlighted research by Christianity Today suggesting evangelical Christians may be statistically more “patriotic” than other Americans:

Among those surveyed, evangelicals were the most likely to think the United States is No. 1.

“Other Christian traditions were less enthusiastic about America’s position in the world, but they still saw the U.S. as one of the best on the planet. About 40% of other Christians said the U.S. stands alone as the greatest country; around 55% said it and some other countries were equally great.

Those “without religious beliefs” held a “much less favorable view” Read more

Weinstein Demands Chaplain’s Head for Buddhist Proselytizing?

In a rare break from his focus on Christianity, Military Religious Freedom Foundation “president” Michael Weinstein has called for US Air Force Academy Chaplain (Col) Robert Bruno to be court-martialed for his attempts to convert cadets…to Buddhism:

US Air Force Chaplain Colonel Bruno…should face immediate criminal charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for these disgusting, prima facie examples of dereliction of duty by flagrant violations of the solemn oaths they took…

Actually, strike that, Weinstein didn’t display that intellectual integrity.  Instead, he continued his focus on Christianity:

[Chaplain Bruno is a] heinous Poster Child[] of unconstitutional, fundamentalist Christian supremacy Read more

Muslim Soldier on Faith and Service

The Stars and Stripes ran an article entitled “Some Muslim servicemembers struggle to balance faith and service,” though the article cited only a single former servicemember, former Army SSgt Mohammad A. Hasan.  After 9 years of service, with his Islamic faith a non-issue, he said a deployment to Iraq set him apart from his peers:

With a dark complexion and Muslim name, the Bangladesh-born soldier’s loyalty was at times questioned by suspicious troops during his deployment in Iraq, he said.

The article continues to use the plural with reference to “struggling” Muslim Soldiers, though it fails to mention any others.  In fact, it quotes both former Navy Read more

Army Addresses Spiritual Resiliency

At a Spiritual Resiliency Luncheon in October, US Army Chaplain (Col) Barbara Sherer, assistant commandant of the US Army Chaplain Center and School, was introduced by Third Infantry Division Commander MajGen Robert “Abe” Abrams to speak on spiritual resiliency.

“Resilience is that ability to come back and spring back to whatever should be normal for you,” she said.

Resilience has been increasingly important in the Army as Soldiers Read more

Army Atheists Get it Wrong on Chaplains. Again.

The “military director” of American Atheists and coordinator for “Rock Beyond Belief” at Fort Bragg, Justin Griffith, previously misstepped when he tried to ‘humorously’ make the point “there are no chaplains in foxholes.’  (Even some who support him have asked him not to demean the service of chaplains who died in the line of duty or received such accolades as the Medal of Honor.)

Griffith was also so offended by an answer BrigGen Rhonda Cornum gave in a media interview that he misquoted her and allowed another military atheist, Dustin Chalker, to rail on about her misquoted statement.

Now, he’s done it again.

This time Griffith targeted Read more

Soldiers Tour Ancient Ziggurat

While US forces are exiting Iraq, some are still taking the unique opportunity to tour ancient sites in the area.  American COB Adder in Iraq is located near the Ziggurat of Ur, which US Army reservists recently got to visit while supporting other functions.  Ziggurats were used in the religions of ancient Mesopotamia.

While there are many challenges in the military, including the dangers of a combat zone, members of the military are also able to take part in once in a lifetime opportunities.

MRFF Petition Garners Signatures for White House

Dustin Chalker, an Army Sergeant and MRFF “client,” publicly announced that he started a petition on the whitehouse.gov “We the People” website calling for an “End [to] the Military’s Discrimination against Non-Religious Service Members.”

The petition wording reflects some of the sentiment behind Chalker’s failed lawsuit against the Army — a lawsuit that was tossed out because Chalker failed to use the internal grievance systems the Army has in place.  The petition contains similarly vague claims of illegal conduct, which are (still) unsupported to date by any public facts:  Read more

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