{"id":30659,"date":"2015-01-05T00:45:40","date_gmt":"2015-01-05T03:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/?p=30659"},"modified":"2016-11-25T00:47:13","modified_gmt":"2016-11-25T03:47:13","slug":"robins-afb-chaplains-protect-religious-freedom-by-supporting-it-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2015\/01\/05\/robins-afb-chaplains-protect-religious-freedom-by-supporting-it-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Robins AFB Chaplains Protect Religious Freedom by Supporting It (Video)"},"content":{"rendered":"

An interesting story at the local news<\/a> to Robins AFB, Georgia, notes that one of the roles of the Air Force chaplaincy is to protect troops’ right to religious freedom — but it doesn’t have to stifle religious exercise to do so [emphasis added]:<\/p>\n

They defend the right to worship freely, even if other airmen’s views conflict with their own<\/strong> beliefs.<\/p>\n

At the Robins Air Force Base tree lighting ceremony in early December, you would not have heard utterances of ‘”Seasons Greetings”, no mentions of “holiday trees” or talk about celebrations of a “winter solstice”.<\/p>\n

That gathering of the troops, complete with hymns and prayers, was undeniably Christian<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That<\/em> is protection of religious freedom. Religious freedom is not guaranteed by neutering everything and creating a generic, state-controlled non-deific solemnization. Religious freedom is protected by its practice<\/em> by all who choose<\/em> to do so.<\/p>\n

One of the chapel staff who helped trim the Christmas tree at Robins was Airman Darrion Sanders — an atheist:<\/p>\n

Assistant Chaplain Captain Jessica Prophitt…[helped] trim the tree.<\/p>\n

So did Airmen Darrion Sanders, an atheist. Sanders said, “We welcome anybody of any faith.”<\/p>\n

He said “we”, because he is a leader in the chapel program.<\/p>\n

Sanders sees no conflict mixing organized religion with his pagan spirituality.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Robins apparently boasts another non-theistic chaplain assistant in SSgt Joshua Manglona:<\/p>\n

Manglona deploys after Christmas to a combat zone, tasked with guarding a chaplain. Chaplains are prohibited from carrying weapons.<\/p>\n

He will put his life on the line protecting a person of faith, even though he claims no religion of his own.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Because some critics have tried to stigmatize public expressions of faith, some people of faith will self-censor their personal religious beliefs even when they don’t have to. It would seem the Robins AFB chapel staff is an excellent example of what religious liberty really means. Believe<\/em> what you want; practice<\/em> what you believe. When all<\/em> are free to exercise their faith freely, religious liberty thrives.<\/p>\n

[The video was removed due to auto-play issues, but can be viewed here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

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