Category Archives: Chaplain

Court Upholds Invocations: Military Relevance

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the 11th Circuit upheld a lower court ruling that found a Georgia commission’s practice of opening their sessions with prayer was Constitutional.  According to the article, the lawsuit filed by the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State claimed that

overtly Christian prayers [with respect to the government] are an unconstitutional establishment of religion.

Instead, the court indicated (in its ruling here) that it was not appropriate for the judicial branch to “parse” prayers; and if they did, no one would be able to agree on what was or was not appropriate.

Whether invocations of ‘Lord of Lords’ or ‘the God of Abraham, Isaac and Mohammed’ are ‘sectarian’ is best left to theologians, not courts of law….We would not know where to begin to demarcate the boundary between sectarian and nonsectarian expressions….Even the [plaintiffs] cannot agree on which expressions are “sectarian.”

The ruling reflects the Supreme Court precendent Read more

Military Jewish Lay Leader Derided

As previously noted, CAPT (USN) Neil Block is a Jewish lay leader who was personally involved in the investigation of alleged anti-Semitism in the Fort Benning community.

Now, Block himself is the target of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.  In an article written by Jason Leopold, Michael Weinstein has called for his “immediate dismissal by Fort Benning” for his comments “trivializing” the incident, which Weinstein calls an “Army hate crime”:

Mr. Block displays a truly alarming and willful reckless disregard for the truth of this tragic Army hate crime and subsequent cover-up…Mr. Block is apparently the current reigning Poster Child for Army religious predator apologists.

[In the interest of full disclosure, it should be noted that Leopold is a frequent advocate for the MRFF, and has received an award from them.]

The vitriol directed toward CAPT Block inspired an open letter [updated link] at Jews in Green.

Also noted at the Religion Clause.

Gen. Richardson on “Combat Chaplains”

An interesting Air Force release on Maj. Gen. Cecil Richardson, Air Force chief of chaplains, notes his recent presentation on “combat Chaplains.”

He notes that

military chaplains are working hard in deployed environments to help ensure servicemembers have their constitutional right to worship God in their own way

In response to a question of whether Chaplains are “anti-war”: 

Chaplain Richardson said chaplains, like all military members, are anti-war, just like all firefighters are anti-fire and all police are anti-crime.

“But in a fallen world, sometimes fire happens, and thank God for the wonderful firemen,” Chaplain Richardson said. “Sometimes crime happens, and we need the police. Sometimes you have a war and need people to stand up and defend our country against those who would do harm to innocent people.”

Military Deploys Religious Support Teams

According to AF.mil, military Chaplains and Chaplain Assistants have been deployed in support of the populations affected by Hurricane Ike.  From the press release:

Religious support teams provide spiritual support, death notification, moral support and critical incident stress management, among other services.

A hurricane reminds us what is really important–our faith, family, community and country–[and] puts everything into perspective…

“Under Orders” Under Fire

Chaplain Bill McCoy, author of Under Orders, now finds himself backtracking from the publication of an endorsement by General Petraeus on the cover of his book.  According to various press reports, he now says the endorsement, as well as that of another General,

were intended for me personally rather than for the general public

Under Orders was reviewed here six months ago, and the Chaplain even responded to defend his book at the time.

In typical fashion, Michael Weinstein has said Read more

Jewish Chaplain Provides Spiritual Support in Iraq

A local Philadelphia newspaper covers the story of Rabbi Jon Cutler, a Jewish Navy Reserve Chaplain serving a 13-month tour in Iraq.  Cutler is the head Chaplain for 23 others.

Like many Chaplains, Cutler has the benefit of civilian religious counterparts to help fulfill troops’ spiritual needs:

When Cutler came to Iraq this winter, [he] set about creating a synagogue in the base’s chapel complex. Today, that synagogue — supplied with a Torah scroll brought over from the U.S. and the ark that holds it constructed by civilian contractors — has between 10 and 15 military personnel attending Friday night services. There is a steady crowd at Saturday Torah studies and weekly Jewish movie nights. Read more

Chief Chaplain on Religion in the AF

Maj Gen Cecil Richardson, Air Force Chief of Chaplains (previously noted here), was interviewed by the Air Force Times.  Notable quotes on religion in the Air Force:

[I]f you’re just introducing yourself to someone and you say I’m married, I have three kids, I’m from Ohio, I’m a Roman Catholic and my faith is an important part of my life, no problem…If you…say, “If you want to be a good airman, a good officer and a good student … you have to be Roman Catholic or Baptist,” then you’ve gone over the line.

It’s true the other way around. I’ve met guys who say, “I’ve got a commander who’s very anti-religious. Read more

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