Category Archives: Religion and Culture

Congressmen vote “Yes” for Ramadan, “No” for Christmas

As noted at FoxNews and other news sources, some people are upset that a resolution acknowledging Christmas was opposed by 9 members of the House, while resolutions honoring other religions were passed unanimously.  HR 847 (Christmas, Yes: 372/No: 9/Present/No Vote: 50) was identical in many respects to HR 635 (Ramadan, Y:376/N:0/P:56).

One lawmaker’s staff said she had

previously has opposed similar bills on Christianity because she “has concerns about separation of church and state.”

Apparently, those concerns apply only to Christianity, as the Representative voted “yes” on resolutions regarding Islam and Indian religious observations.

Many blogs and pundits have also skewered the Congress for wasting time, foisting Christianity on Americans, and entangling the government with religion, while those same people said nothing regarding the previous resolutions on other religions.

Some people, including the bill’s sponsor, Representative Steve King (R-Iowa), believe this is further proof of an undue hostility in America not toward religion, but toward Christianity.  Whether true or not, the furor surrounding the resolution is indicative of the cultural sensitivity of Christianity in the public square, something military Christians would do well to remember.

(King acknowledged that he essentially proposed the resolution to make a point.  Previously, he voted “present” on the other religious resolutions.)

Merry Christmas from ChristianFighterPilot.com

Merry Christmas…can we say that?

Both religious and secular news sources have repeatedly reported on the perceived “war on Christmas,” in which organizations (primarily retailers) have chosen to say (or not say) Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, or some other variation on the theme.  For retailers, it is a business decision, whether good or bad, in which they attempt to appease one group of consumers or another.  What they do probably has an impact on their sales figures, but influences little else.

Another question revolves around what is permissible for government officials.  Lawsuits and controversy have erupted over Christmas (or “holiday”) displays (like in Wisconsin).  Even President Bush has been taken to task for the White House Christmas Cards that don’t mention Christmas, but do contain Old Testament Bible verses that reference the Messianic prophecy.  Military Christians, then, have a confusing cornucopia of examples to look at when trying to decide what is appropriate during the Christmas season.

Is there a right answer?  What can military Christians do or say?  Read more

The Controversy of Christianity in the Military

Some Americans believe that an “evangelical coup” is being mounted by Christians in the United States’ military.  The concept is absurd to mainstream America, which is why the constant tide of press releases by organizations trumpeting such a conspiracy is most often ignored.   

Many Christians agree that those who accuse them of attempting to establish an American theocracy are fringe.  While downplaying their conspiracy theories is wise, Christians cannot simply dismiss or ignore them.  Every now and then such accusationas erupt into “scandal,” as occurred at the Air Force Academy several years ago.  There are people in the United States today who honestly believe that Christians (especially those in the military) are a threat to freedom, democracy, and national security–and those people and organizations are part of the growing movement to impact Christians in the government and military today.

On a recent internet comment regarding “The Evangelical Christian Takeover of the Military,” one such person opined that  Read more

South Korean Christians Released

An interesting article covers the South Korean response to the homecoming of the 19 remaining hostages held by the Taliban.  Notably, there seems to be a backlash to apparent “overzealous proselytizing,” even though

Both Saemmul Presbyterian Church, to which the hostages belong, and the government insisted that the hostages had not been proselytizing, just providing aid. But many religious experts here consider such a distinction meaningless, since South Korean churches provide aid to gain converts.

Why does this matter to the military Christian?  There is a growing movement in America that is reflected here by the quoted “many religious experts:”  the supposition that Christians can’t separate their “overtly proselytizing ways” from their other actions–whether they be charitable or governmental.  That is, Christians can’t help but proselytize, and they must be treated as if they will.

Some people seem to think that if the military forbids proselytizing in its ranks then it must restrict the actions of Christians, because Christians cannot help but proselytize.  The cultural view of Christianity bears significant impact on the religious freedom of Christians in the military.

Air-Dropped Soccer Balls Offend Afghanis

The Best Intentions… 

According to the International Herald Tribune, the US military apologized for offending Afghani Muslims when it gave them soccer balls that had the Saudi flag on it.  The Saudi flag has the words Allah and Muhammad on it; those names in any form are considered sacred to Muslims.  The thought of kicking those sacred names was apparently offensive.

Soccer (or football, outside the US), is wildly popular in most other parts of the world, and has even been a source of national pride in an otherwise sometimes fractious Iraq.

National Review: CNN Espousing “equivalency of ideology”

Joe Carter of the National Review wrote an article on CNN’s “God’s Warriors” in which he noted that while many people are concerned about CNN juxtaposing assassins and Falwell, what CNN is really doing is proposing “equivalency of ideology.”  That is, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity are “equal.”  He notes, for example, that while “theocracy” is a theology most aligned with Islam, it is more often attributed to Protestant Christians.  In fact, 

more than half of American evangelicals are either Baptists or nondenominational — groups that don’t even want a centralized church government much less a central government controlled by the church.

The Culture and Media Institute also wrote an article on the CNN series.  It contains some positive and negative things about the shows, including Amanpour’s comparison of Christian calls for “modest dress” as equivalent with the Taliban calls for burkas.

“God’s Warriors” on CNN, 21-23 August 2007

As previously posted, CNN’s special on “God’s Warriors” runs this week.

The CNN site lists the topics as:

Judaism: Murder in Hebron and Settler vs. Soldier
Islam: Holy Killing and Martyrdom
Christianity: Christians and Falwell and The Culture War

With murder and holy killing juxtaposed with Falwell and a culture war, it is fairly easy to see why some are worried that CNN will equate evangelical Christians with radical Islam.

Their “objectivity” remains to be seen.

Christians and the Hindu Senate Invocation

On 12 July 2007, Rajan Zed, a Hindu resident* of Nevada, delivered a mantra for the traditional daily opening prayer in the US Senate.  Few Americans know his name, and fewer know what he said.  What many Americans know, however, is that he was interrupted.

Objectively, three people were removed from the Senate chamber during Zed’s chant.  Depending on the news source cited, the “activists,” “protesters,” “Christian patriots,” or “heroes” were arrested for “praying in Jesus’ name” or “disrupting” the Senate proceedings.

The three people openly said they were Christians, and they knew they could be arrested for what they were going to do.  They also said they were “not heckling,” but hoping their prayer would be a “shield” from God’s wrath over the Hindu “idolatry” in the nation’s Capitol.  James Klingenschmitt, the former Navy Chaplain, was in the Senate chamber and noted the irony of a government that would apparently suppress Christian prayer but allow that of a Hindu.

When the Hindu invitation was announced, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (AU)–which ordinarily vociferously opposes government-endorsed chaplains–welcomed the incident as a step toward “diversity,” not because they agreed with the concept of government-backed prayer, but because it would make “the Religious Right…go insane.”  Read more

1 … 17 18 19 20 21