Category Archives: Government and Religion

SecDef Hagel Releases Statement on Same-Sex Benefits

Following the recent kerfuffle over the National Guard and state laws regarding homosexual benefits, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel released a statement seeming to declare the matter closed:

On Oct. 31, I called on the chief of the National Guard Bureau to work with several states to fully implement Department of Defense policy by providing DoD identification cards to all eligible military spouses, regardless of sexual orientation. Following consultations between Read more

Traditional Operation Christmas Drop Continues

The US Air Force conducted its annual Operation Christmas Drop over Micronesia this year:

[Ongoing] since December 1952…Operation Christmas Drop is the longest running humanitarian airlift mission supported by the Department of Defense.

U.S. military service members, their families, and the people of Guam teamed up with the Christmas Drop Organization to ensure a successful mission. The Christmas Drop Organization is a private organization Read more

VA Screens Christian Christmas Cards

Update: The VA’s treatment of Christianity over the past Christmas has caught the attention of Congressman Jeff Miller (R-FL), among others.

A few reports have covered the Veterans’ Administration policy that requires Christmas to be filtered based on its Christian content:

A VA official quoted the policy which is in the Veterans Health Administration handbook:

“In order to be respectful of our veterans’ religious beliefs, all donated holiday cards are reviewed by a multi-disciplinary team of staff led by chaplaincy services and determined if they are appropriate (non-religious) to freely distribute to patients. We regret this process was not fully explained to this group and apologize for any misunderstanding.”

Apparently, this wasn’t the only Christmas event in which Christianity was Read more

Top 10 Military Religious Freedom Stories for 2013

As has been the trend for the past few years, issues of religion and the military seem to have largely fallen from the visibility they once had.  This year, as religious liberty sites have compiled their “top tens” for the year, the focus has largely been on DOMA and the challenges to the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.  The left-leaning Baptist Joint Committee included only one military story, saying the “Pentagon debunks rumors of a policy change on religious expression” in reference to the springtime controversy over Michael “Mikey” Weinstein “consulting” with the Air Force (#9 on the list below).

The Top 10 most-read stories on ChristianFighterPilot.com for 2013:  Read more

Fort Hood Shooter Asked for Bible, Bible Expert in Jail

In an interesting tidbit from the Bell County Jail where then-US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan was held during his trial for the 2009 Fort Hood massacre, a report of his jail requests indicates he asked for a Bible and a “knowledgeable person” while he was on trial:

Hasan also asked the jail for a copy of the Bible and added, “Please send a knowledgeable person to answer my difficult questions as Read more

Military Homosexuals: Little to Discuss

Occurring fairly regularly since the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, another news article characterizes the “non-event” of the decision to allow homosexuals to openly serve in the US military.

[Lt Jonathan] Roman and two other Fort Gordon personnel said they have experienced limited instances of discrimination since the repeal was enacted in September 2011.

Similar articles have come out every few months with the same caveats — interrupted occasionally by an article that says the military is “struggling” with this “non-event.”

One question the press hasn’t seemed to consider:  Have heterosexuals or religious troops experienced discrimination since repeal?

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USAF SMSgt Philip Monk on Military Religious Freedom

US Air Force SMSgt Philip Monk was the unit First Sergeant whose commander allegedly “agreed” that he should step away from his duties earlier than planned because he was unable to say that opposition to homosexuality was de facto discrimination in the military.

The Air Force found his allegations of religious discrimination “unsubstantiated” because “religion was never discussed between the two.”  The Air Force released portions of an investigation alleging he made false, but not punishable, statements, though it has not yet released anything about his commander’s statements, including the allegation she called a fellow Air Force officer — and chaplain — a “bigot” because he did not affirm homosexuality.

“The right thing to do is often the most difficult thing to do…

We weren’t called to do what’s easiest for our career. [We’re] called to do the right thing.”

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Military Religious Freedom Makes the DuffelBlog

Apparently, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein has arrived.

The DuffelBlog — the military-themed takeoff of the satirical Onion website — riffed the recent controversy over the Guantanamo Bay Nativity scenes with a fake article entitled “Detainee Live-Action Christmas Diorama at Guantanamo Triggers Controversy.”

The site, which some might consider offensive but apparently has a Pentagon fanbase, built a satirical tale for most of the article, but finished without really having to embellish all that much:

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation was circulating an anonymous e-mail from eighteen other guards that went even further, referring to “the blatantly unconstitutional activities we’ve seen aboard Guantanamo. Obviously we’re referring to the nativity scene in the chow hall…”  Read more

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