Category Archives: Government and Religion

Air Force Investigation Finds No Religious Discrimination

An Air Force investigation was initiated after SMSgt Philip Monk filed a complaint of religious discrimination, claiming he was relieved and reassigned earlier than planned after a conversation with his commanding officer, Maj Elisa Valenzuela.  The Air Force issued a press release about the investigation, saying the charges of religious discrimination were not substantiated:

The investigation, initiated Aug. 15 by Col. Mark Camerer, 37th Training Wing commander at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, found the claim unsubstantiated…

“The weight of the evidence shows that religion was never discussed between the two,” Camerer said in an Air Education and Training Command release.

“In the end, this is a case about command authority, good order and discipline, and civil rights — not religious freedoms,” he said.

Interestingly, no one ever publicly claimed “religion was…discussed between the two,” but it raises the question as to whether one must explicitly voice a religious belief for it to be actionable.  The investigation also made an interesting comment about the statements at the heart of the controversy [emphasis added]:  Read more

Catholic Chaplain Sues US Military for Right to Minister

Catholic priest Father Ray Leonard has filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Defense and the Navy for prohibiting him from ministering to the military community at the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Georgia.  Leonard is a civilian contractor who had been hired to begin his service on 1 October 2013.

The priest was one of thousands of civilian military employees and contractors furloughed because of the failure of Congress to reach a deal on funding the federal government. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has since recalled some Defense Department workers, but civilian military chaplains were excluded.

The lawsuit seeks a judgment that would Read more

Senator Ted Cruz on Military Religious Liberty

This is an administration that has told servicemen and women that they cannot share their faith or risk discipline.  This is an administration that has reprimanded an Air Force chaplain in Alaska for writing in a blog post “there are no atheists in foxholes.”  Now, mind you, he was quoting President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who, I might note, has some passing familiarity with the military…

“The Administration” can either be interpreted as a broad swath of people that includes the Secretary of Defense, or potentially a direct reference to the President.

It is exceedingly difficult — though it has been tried — Read more

Military Atheists Target Fellow Religious Troops. Again.

In what appears to be a trend, a few atheist members of the US military seem to have taken on a “militant” practice of their faith — by aggressively going after their fellow religious troops.

In May 2012, Army Sgt Justin Griffith led his “internet atheists” against a prayer event hosted by the families of his fellow Fort Bragg Soldiers — while those families’ Soldiers were deployed to Afghanistan.

In March 2013, an Air Force Chief Master Sergeant proudly announced that he’d purged his squadron of posters for “Christian” events — even official events sponsored by MWR.

In August 2013, Captain Sara Sharick — an Army recruiter — indicated she might use her Army position to try to steer a potential recruit away from his school of choice, Christian-founded Liberty University, because it was home to “the crazies.”

Later in August, Daniel Smith — a civilian commissary store director — claimed the presence of Gideon Bibles in Air Force Inns was unconstitutional.  He lodged complaints with the intent of removing those Bibles, so traveling active duty Airmen wouldn’t have access to them.

Now, another incident from earlier this year has recently come to light.

It seems another Army atheist took issue with his fellow Soldiers and their families  Read more

Michael Weinstein Interprets Religious Regulations for Air Force

Michael Weinstein was once jokingly referred to as the new Secretary of the Air Force after his apparent easy access to — and influence of — Air Force leaders was revealed.  It seems Weinstein himself is now trying to fulfill that “role.”

On 19 September Ms. Deborah Lee James, nominee for Secretary of the Air Force, testified at the Senate Armed Services Committee and was asked several questions about military religious freedom by Senator David Vitter (R-La).

As noted in the Air Force Times — not in their news, but in commentator Robert Dorr’s opinion column — Vitter brought up several “documented cases” of restrictions on religious liberty:

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., asked James if it’s acceptable for an airman to have a Bible on his desk or for a chaplain to end a prayer “in Jesus’ name.”…

James told Vitter: “Having a Bible on your desk, that doesn’t seem like it should be banned.”

James’ answer is consistent with what the Air Force has officially said to date.  In May of this year, Air Force spokeswoman LtCol Laura Tingley told blogger William Throckmorton, in response to that same allegation:  Read more

Congressmen Tell SecDef to “Guide” Guard on Homosexual Benefits

Senator Carl Levin (D-Ma) and US Rep Adam Smith (D-Wa) have written a letter to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel telling him to “issue further guidance” to state National Guard units who have been declining to process benefit applications for homosexuals.

As has been noted elsewhere, until such units are federalized, they operate under the power of the states — their commander in chief is Read more

Retired General, Current Chaplain Face off in Congress

As previously noted, the House resolution to allow military chaplains to serve their congregations — rather than ban them from chapels during the congressional impasse — was proposed by Rep Doug Collins (R-Ga). It was passed in a 400-1 vote.  The lone opponent: Rep William Enyart (D-Il).

Rep Collins is a current Air Force Reserve chaplain with a rank of Major.

Rep Enyart is a retired Major General in the National Guard.

(Coincidentally, Gen Enyart was replaced as Adjutant General of the Illinois ANG by BG Daniel Krumrei — a chaplain.)

Explaining his lone dissenting vote, Rep Enyart said  Read more

Congress Acts After DoD Furloughs Chaplains

A variety of news sources noted that the decision to furlough government civilians in the Department of Defense has meant some chaplains couldn’t go to work either — and thus US military chapel services will not be held:

With the government shutdown, [“General Schedule”] and contract priests who are furloughed are not allowed to work, not even to volunteer, according to John Schlageter, general counsel for the Archdiocese for the Military Services. “During the shutdown, it is illegal for them to minister on base, and they risk being arrested if they attempt to do so,” he said.

This is generally true for all people in equivalent government positions, not just chaplains.  Interestingly, a Catholic spokesman noted that there are actually more civilian/contract Catholic chaplains in the US military than active duty ones:  Read more

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