Category Archives: Government and Religion

Cadets Speak Out, Religious Liberty Group Meets with USAFA

While many people may have opinions, the fact is there is no Air Force policy or regulation at all that addresses Bible verses or other public displays of religion — even in an official office setting, even by Air Force “leaders.”

Based on actual military policy, Air Force cadets — and enlisted, and officers — remain free to have verses on their whiteboards and Bibles on their desks, even if some people don’t agree or like it.  The mere association of an Air Force leader with a religious belief cannot reasonably be interpreted to be improper — or else far more censorship and restriction on conduct needs to occur. After all, if a cadet can’t handle seeing a Bible verse on a whiteboard, how will he react when he sees his commander wearing a yarmulke?

US Air Force Academy cadets spoke out — anonymously — after the recent kerfuffle over Bible verses on dry erase boards. Their statements are mature and well-considered:  Read more

USAFA Cadets Lead “Righteous Rebellion”

The Family Research Council had high praise for cadets who “offered a teachable moment of their own” when they hung Bible (and Qur’an) verses on their doors after a Bible verse was pulled down:

Overnight, Scriptures from Philippians 4 to Psalm 28 started appearing up and down dorm hallways on whiteboards — a stealth operation to counter the growing culture of religious oppression.

The FRC notes Michael “Mikey” Weinstein “went into panic mode” when he fired off an email to Academy Superintendent LtGen Michelle Johnson:  Read more

Update: Mikey Weinstein Threatens Suit if USAFA Cadets Not Punished

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, a self-described religious liberty advocate, is threatening to sue the US Air Force Academy if it fails to punish cadets who exercised their religious liberty.

As previously noted in the original discussion, a large group of cadets responded to the original story of Weinstein successfully getting a Bible verse erased from a cadet whiteboard by posting verses of their own — from the Bible, Qur’an, movies, the Helix, and even the Flying Spaghetti Monster. (One said “go atheists!”)

According to an update at TheBlaze, Weinstein wants everyone who posted verses punished, for some reason, though he didn’t mention Read more

USAFA Defends Cadets against Mikey Weinstein…Sort of

Update 2: This story is now updated here.

Update: Many USAFA cadets are now openly taunting Mikey Weinstein by posting verses (and commentary) to their message boards:

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein recently erupted when he found out a cadet wrote a Bible verse on his message board in a USAFA hallway:

The text is Galatians 2:20:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

The labels indicate the room belongs to a 2° (junior) in Cadet Squadron 21.

Weinstein was livid that a cadet would dare write Read more

Is it Biblical for Women to Lead in the Military?

Dr. Al Mohler answered an interesting question raised in his weekly podcast:

Is it Biblical for a woman to be a political or military leader?

Despite stereotype, most Christians don’t have this question. The question is most often posed by non-Christians hoping to make hay with Christians who haven’t thought much beyond the text of 1 Timothy.

Dr. Mohler provides a reasoned, though not necessarily short, reply:  Read more

Congressmen Criticize US Military Religious Liberty Implementation

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Congressman John Fleming (R-La) recently wrote a letter to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel that was critical of the way the Department of Defense has implemented the religious liberty provisions of the 2014 NDAA — legislation they authored.

In short, the two say the military has focused on accommodation of religious clothing and failed to specifically address religious expression [emphasis added]:  Read more

AMPA Lobbies with Uniformed US Troops

The Arizona legislature recently passed a religious liberty bill and sent it to the desk of Governor Jan Brewer. The bill would have, by some interpretations, protected Arizona citizens who declined to affirm homosexuality based on religious grounds.  Governor Brewer vetoed the bill.

During the few days between the legislature passing the bill and the Governor’s veto, the American Military Partner Association, a homosexual advocacy group for the US military, took to Facebook to encourage its members to call Governor Brewer’s office in opposition to the bill — and the AMPA used the images of uniformed service members to do so:

Read more

Christian Hypocrisy on Non-Traditional Marriage?

Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, recently provided a thought-provoking response to accusations that Christians are “hypocrites” because Christians have not gone after other “unbiblical” marriage as they have “same-sex marriage.”

As an example of an unbiblical wedding, [Kirsten Powers and Jonathan Merritt] cited a ceremony between a Christian and a non-Christian or involving a divorced person who does not have a biblical basis for divorce.

Moore’s response is fairly simple: While the Christian worldview may not support those people getting married, once they are married, they are in a valid, biblically-recognized marriage.

“[W]hile a biblical view of marriage would see that such people (fornicators, believers to unbelievers, unlawfully divorced, etc.) should not get married, and that the church has no authority to marry them, we also would affirm that such people, when married, actually are married,” Moore said. “A pastor who joins a believer to an unbeliever bears an awful responsibility for doing something wrong, but the end result is an actual marriage.

“The same-sex marriage differs not in terms of morality, but in terms of reality. It is not that homosexuality is some sort of wholly different or unforgivable sexual sin. It’s that Read more

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