Tag Archives: Religion

US Military Celebrates Ramadan, Religious Freedom

The past month has seen a wide variety of articles from the US military showcasing its support of religious freedom — specifically, the accommodation of US military members celebrating Ramadan.  Other articles have highlighted the US military’s “respect” for the Islamic holy month.

In Iraq, for example, an article describes the tenets of the Islamic faith and notes US General officers have been hosting nightly iftars, including General Lloyd Austin, commanding General of US Forces in Iraq:

To celebrate this very special religious month, various U.S. general officers have been hosting a post-dusk meal called an iftar…Iftar dinners are being hosted around the country as a way of showing support and appreciation to their Iraqi counterparts.

Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III [said] Read more

Senator Tells Air Force to Explain Response to MRFF Complaint

A few other media sources are catching up to Senator John Cornyn’s (R-TX) letter to the Secretary of the Air Force released on Monday.

Suspending a course like this because of references to religious texts misinterprets the First Amendment. [The Constitution] does not, as some have argued, protect them from exposure to religious references.

(Some continue to use the word “misrepresents,” though the published letter says “misinterprets.”)

Michael Weinstein’s MRFF — which claims a Constitutional Read more

Senator Scolds Air Force for Pulling Nuke Course

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) has expressed “concern” over the Air Force’s response to complaints over religious content in an ICBM training course.

Suspending a course like this because of references to religious texts misinterprets the First Amendment.  Although our Founding Fathers rightly included language in the Constitution that precludes the Federal government from establishing an official religion, this language does not, as some have argued, protect them from exposure to religious references… Read more

Uka Confesses to Killing US Airmen

The accused Frankfurt airport shooter, Arid Uka, has reportedly told the court in Germany that he did kill US Airmen Nicholas Alden and Zachary Cuddeback.  But he doesn’t understand.

[Uka said] he regrets shooting dead two US airmen and wounding two more at Frankfurt airport in March, and does not understand why he did it.

[He] told the court he was influenced by Islamist “lies and propaganda that blinded me”.
 
“What I did was wrong, but I cannot Read more

MRFF Targets Military Ministries. Again.

Speaking for Michael Weinstein and his Military Religious Freedom Foundation, Chris Rodda recently went on the offensive against Officers’ Christian Fellowship, a Christian military ministry.  (This isn’t really new.  Rick Baker lists virtually every Christian ministry in existence in his frequent diatribes against religious freedom in the military.)  Rodda’s write-up sounds like the intro to a Twilight Zone episode:

Throughout the US military…lurks an organization of over 15,500 fundamentalist Christian military officers who think their real duty is not to protect and defend the Constitution, but to raise up “a spiritually transformed military, with ambassadors for Christ in uniform, empowered by the Holy Spirit.” These officers belong to an organization called the Officers’ Christian Fellowship (OCF)…

(Rodda later gives a second nod to the Twilight Zone with the Read more

Group Complains of Religious Training at Lackland AFB

A group of trainees at the US Air Force basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, was photographed in a religious training event that has raised the ire of a religious watchdog.

On the first Sunday in August a representative of Harun Yahya was allowed, following an invitation from the Muslim chaplain at Lackland, Captain Sharior Rahman, to present two classes: a morning one on “The Collapse of Darwinism and the Fact of Creation” and an evening one covering “Miracles in the Qur’an.”

Dr. Timothy Furnish of Family Security Matters has made it his purpose in life to track the “mahdi movement” (loosely paraphrased, the messianic side of Islam), of which Harun Yahya is a part.  Furnish obtained photographs of basic trainees sitting through a class on these Islamic studies:  Read more

Navy Priest on Chaplaincy, Calling

Navy Chaplain (CAPT) Michael A. Mikstay recently provided a succinct summary of the role of the military Chaplaincy:

Mikstay may be a Catholic priest, but as a Navy chaplain he facilitates religious services for troops of all beliefs.

“When you get down to it, the primary reason we have military chaplains in any of the services is because our nation is adamant about the fact that we provide for the free exercise of religion,” Mikstay said. Read more

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