Category Archives: Government and Religion

SECAF: Diversity, Moral Courage, and Barriers for Same-Sex Couples

In her address to the 2015 USAFA graduating class, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James called on the new Second Lieutenants to

have the moral courage to stand up for what is right.

It is a worthy, if nearly clichéd, reminder to graduates. It is curious, though, if some parts of American society or American government can remember what “right” — or moral courage — even is.

Notably, every news article covering the 23-minute speech by Secretary James (including the official ones) noted one specific phrase, in context and in bold below:  Read more

US Military to Add Homosexuality to Protected Classes

According to the Washington Blade (a “gay news source”), the US military is set to add “sexual orientation” to its list of classes protected under the Military Equal Opportunity program — a list that currently includes religion and race. The change would appear to coincide with the “celebration” of homosexuality occurring during the declared “LGBT Pride” month.

Previously, the military had said that sexual harassment was addressed by EO irrespective of hetero- or homosexuality, and therefore special protections were not needed. The plan for implementation of DADT repeal specifically said that sexuality should not be added as a ‘special class’ in EO protection [emphasis added]:  Read more

ACLJ Defends General Olson, Criticizes Mikey Weinstein

Skip Ash of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) penned an article last week taking Michael “Mikey” Weinstein to task for Weinstein’s demand that the Air Force court-martial Major General Craig Olson. In the piece entitled “The Radical Assault on Faith in the Military Must be Stopped,” Ash called Weinstein’s allegations “outlandishly wrong” and “hogwash!”  (This comes after Weinstein’s friend, Chaplain Ron Crews of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, described (PDF) Weinstein’s attack as “hysterics” from an “activist[] with an axe to grind against religion.”)

The ACLJ also revealed that they wrote their own letter (PDF) to Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh with a remarkably clear and simple explanation of the error of Weinstein’s ways (Crews wrote a similar one (PDF)). Referring to Weinstein’s imploring of General Welsh to “take a good, hard look” at the video of General Olson’s speech, the ACLJ said [italics original, emphasis added]:  Read more

Bible Quote Court-Martialed Marine Appeals

Update: Franklin Graham weighs in here.

Court-martialed Marine Monifa Sterling has enlisted the Liberty Institute to help her appeal her conviction, which included a controversy over Bible quotes she had placed on her desk. Sterling was convicted

of failing to go to an appointed place of duty, disrespecting a superior commissioned officer and four specifications of disobeying a lawful order. She was sentenced last year to a reduction in rank from lance corporal to private and given a bad-conduct discharge, a status that will stay on her military record and prohibits her from receiving benefits as a veteran…

Sterling was found guilty Read more

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson Equates American Christians with Taliban

Update: The Arizona Daily Independent published a letter from retired Command Chief Master Sergeant Chuck Wooten, in which he rebuts Weinstein, saying

To boil this entire issue down to its lowest form, [Wilkerson] and the MRFF are nothing more than predictable liberals. They make a living by fabricating controversy where none exists (think Al Sharpton). They hide behind massively loquacious pieces of hate-filled diatribe which ultimately means nothing. A by-product of their incessant squawking is a colossal waste of tax dollars when a branch of the military or court has to divert attention from its mission to swat these gnats aside.

It must be exhausting for [Wilkerson] and the MRFF to fight a fictitious foe only to have their butt handed to them in defeat.

Retired US Army Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson is most famous for having been the Chief of Staff to retired General Colin Powell when he was Secretary of State from 2002 to 2005. Wilkerson’s most recent role has been as voice for Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which has a long history of calling for restrictions on Christians in the US military.

After the recent hullabaloo over Mikey Weinstein’s demand for Major General Craig Olson’s court-martial, Wilkerson wrote a piece at the Huffington Post which was entitled “The ‘Taliban’ in Our Midst.”

The article began with a wide-ranging indictment of religion in the military:

Military officers who wear their religion on their sleeve are a danger to our country at any time, but especially after the terrorists attacks of September 11, 2001.

Wilkerson probably doesn’t realize he just called every US military chaplain, many US military Jews, and even the rare US military Sikh a “danger” to the United States of America. The rest of his article focuses solely on Christians:  Read more

US Army Changes Rule on Sikh Accommodation

The US Army has reportedly changed a policy that will make it easier for Sikhs to obtain religious accommodation. An Army message entitled USAREC Message 15-032 Update, Religious Accommodation Exceptions to Policy, was released last month but does not appear to be publicly available. It reportedly allows applying US Soldiers to adhere to their faith tenets while their request for accommodation is being granted. The previous policy — and the policy that still exists in the other services — is that troops requesting accommodation were required to first adhere to general policies, only deviating from them after they were granted accommodation.

The change has been reported Read more

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