The US Army’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program has been criticized by psychologists for failing — at a cost of $125M — to provide any verifiable data that it even works.
The program has long been criticized by many for its reliance on the ‘power of positive thinking.’
Created in 2008 to address alarming trends in soldier behavior, Read more
Atheist Jason Torpy tilted the irony meter recently when he touted his recent visit to Arlington National Cemetery.
The event provided the opportunity to remember the service of all those hundreds of thousands at Arlington Cemetery, our nation’s most sacred shrine.
The atheist considers Arlington so “sacred,” in fact, he thinks the government should yank the crosses out of it — something even the ACLU doesn’t advocate.
A federal district court has ruled that the City of Warren, Michigan, was within its rights to exclude an atheist display from its annual public Christmas display. In short, the court said the purpose of the atheist display was to be nothing more than a counter-display and its content could be disruptive.
[T]he Mayor sets forth permissible bases for denial—that the Sign was meant to counter the Nativity Scene, not celebrate the holiday season, and that the anti-religious language of the sign, in this context, could lead to a disruption of city business. There is nothing indicating the Mayor denied placement of the Sign solely in defense of religion; religion was simply not the appropriate subject-matter.
The case was Freedom from Religion Foundation, Inc. v. City of Warren, Michigan.
This is relevant to the military because atheists last year tried the same Read more
Mike Farrell, better known as BJ Hunnicutt of M*A*S*H fame, apparently thinks his “service” with Father Mulcahy qualifies him to speak with authority on the US military chaplaincy. He authored a lengthy piece on the Huffington Post written in the style of Chris Rodda; that is, heavy on vague accusations and light on facts:
Today, a huge percentage of our military chaplains, according to thousands of aggrieved American servicemen and women, present themselves as fevered salesmen for a fundamentalist version of Christianity rather than as simple, caring souls with a willingness to listen and no attached quid pro quo. These religious hucksters see themselves as “government-paid missionaries” and the youth under their domain “as ripe as black bananas.”
Farrell fails to quantify or provide support for his “huge percentage,” and provides no source other than the vague anecdotes of Michael Weinstein’s MRFF “clients.” (Farrell, conveniently enough, is a member of Weinstein’s advisory board.) Farrell is also apparently blind to his own prejudice, calling people who hold beliefs with which he disagrees “hucksters.”
He authoritatively continues: Read more
Or so he says:
According to his public statements, US Army Captain Miles Cone was in “violation of orders from a superior officer” during the benediction at his June 8 graduation from Read more
The Associated Press interviewed a small sampling of chaplains and chaplain endorsers in an apparent attempt to assess the impact of open service by homosexuals following last year’s repeal of the policy best known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
One interesting subject was Chaplain (Col) Timothy Wagoner, a Southern Baptist who attended the recent controversial same-sex union ceremony held in a military chapel to show his “support.”
“As a Southern Baptist, why was I here? I was here to lend support,” Wagoner said. “I was here supporting Airman Umali. I’ve worked with him. He’s a comrade in arms.”
“I’m also supporting Chaplain Reeb,” he said. “She gave a beautiful ceremony.” Read more
Omid Safi, a Professor of Islamic Studies at UNC Chapel Hill, took issue with a recent story about Navy SEAL training and the realistic mock-ups they use — which included mosques and paper targets of hijab-wearing women. From Read more
It seems an Air Force Airman was upset that he was unable to access an atheist blog while he was on duty. To try to prove he was experiencing discrimination, he apparently tried to access ChristianFighterPilot.com from the same government computer and was successful. He couldn’t have that:
The “contractor” is largely an automated filtering system that frequently stirs debate over the sites it blocks and allows. Many blogs are blocked simply Read more