Tag Archives: Religion

USCIRF Appointee: Religious Freedom is Fundamental Right

Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest, was recently appointed by President Obama to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. The USCIRF makes policy recommendations to the US government regarding “freedom of religion or belief abroad.”

In a recent column, Reese expounded on the 2014 USCIRF report (published before his appointment) and highlighted the USCIRF’s assertion that religious freedom is a “fundamental human right,” one that even the US doesn’t always get exactly right:  Read more

Navy SEALs Marcus Luttrell, Bill Wagasy Talk Faith, Service

Former US Navy SEALs Marcus Luttrell — best known for the book and movie Lone Survivor — and Bill Wagasy recently spoke to a group of Texas high school students on leadership, character, and faith in God.

“Billy and I are kind of cut from the same cloth, if you will,” Luttrell said, mentioning the students should pay attention to Wagasy’s advice. “We started up together, came up together, deployed into combat together…”

Between Wagasy’s talks on honor, developing character, brotherhood, fearing God and developing intellect, the students Read more

The Need for Military Chaplains

The Southern Baptist Convention recently noted the value of US military chaplains even here at home — in the wake of the second Fort Hood shooting:

“This tragic event highlights the critically important ministry of chaplains,” Doug Carver, executive director for chaplaincy at the North American Mission Board, said. “They are able to minister immediately in situations like this, even before churches can respond, because chaplains are there in the military community as soldiers themselves.

“The armed forces don’t see chaplains as pastors in uniform. They see them as members of the family,” Carver said. “The culture in the military is so close-knit that when a soldier is hurt, that means a family member is hurting. Military life is family.”

Carver’s point is an important one: Chaplains are not Read more

US Air Force Academy Hosts Wiccan Priestess

While the US Air Force Academy is regularly accused of being dominated by Christianity, its support for other faith systems routinely goes unnoticed or unpublicized (even by its own Public Affairs, apparently):

Selena Fox, who calls herself a Wiccan priestess, was recently hosted by the USAFA chaplains. (She’s holding a chapel coin.) They took a hike with some local pagans up to Falcon Circle, formerly known as the LZ, an “outdoor chapel” area created with some intent to host earth-centered religious adherents a few years ago.

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Commentators Cite Military Chaplains after SCOTUS Prayer Case

John Ragosta, Paul Finkelman and Steven K. Green, “legal scholars and historians who participated as amicus” in the recent Greece prayer case at the Supreme Court, struggled to understand what the Supreme Court intended to mean by its ruling:

The court fails, though, to explain what this means, an issue that the dissent takes up. Should prayers occur before the public is invited into the room? Should prayers be directed only at the board? Should the members themselves take turns invoking prayers, making it clear that they are personal and not “official” prayers?

These scholars missed the obvious issue that Read more

Vermont ANG Chaplain Serves All Beliefs, No Beliefs

An Air Force article highlights US Air Force Chaplain (Maj) Michael Medas, a Roman Catholic Priest who has joined the Vermont Air National Guard.

The article notes that Medas, like all chaplains, serve the entire military community, regardless of the beliefs any individual may hold:

As a military chaplain Medas provides religious services to all Air Force personnel. He has worked with faiths including Catholicism, Judaism and non-faith beliefs such as Atheism. The primary goal of an Air Force Chaplain is to support all members of the Air Force not only in their Read more

Mikey Weinstein on AFN, Fox News…and the Truth

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein is trying his hardest to get the attention of FoxNews so that he’ll get more air time, and presumably more funds, as a result of the publicity. Thus far, he’s been unsuccessful, despite his dishonest attempt to accuse Fox News of “defamation.”

He went further this week, claiming the US military almost exclusively watches FoxNews, which presumably magnifies the gravity of Megyn Kelly’s characterization of Weinstein as an atheist. Weinstein says [internal ellipses original, emphasis added]:  Read more

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