Category Archives: Government and Religion

US Military Christian Preschool Moves Off Post

The Mustard Seed preschool program had been run at the US Army garrison at Yongsan, South Korea, for more than 30 years.  Apparently, someone applied to become director of the preschool but was rejected — so they filed an anonymous complaint that triggered an investigation of the entire program.

Initially, the Army was simply going to shut it down, but it relented when parents voiced their concerns over the hardship a sudden closure would cause.  The Mustard Seed school has now moved off post to Seoul International Baptist Church, where it can still serve US troops and civilians without military involvement.

“We decided to see if it would work, and it worked beautifully,” said Jon Goldsmith, executive director of the Seoul International Baptist Church, which now operates the Mustard Seed Preschool. “It’s not really out of context for us because we have a large military presence at our church, and we were the closest church to the base, with a sizeable representation from the base.”

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Air Force Issues Guidance on Chaplains, Homosexuals

The Air Force Chaplaincy recently issued guidance (PDF) on how chaplains should handle a variety of situations regarding homosexuals and chaplains whose theologies do not allow them to support that lifestyle:

Wing Chaplains, talk with the chaplains under your supervision so that you are clear on what each chaplain’s endorser’s expectations are regarding ministry to same-gender couples.  Honor those expectations and do not ask a chaplain to do anything contrary to his or her endorsement.

The Air Force appears to be the first service to explain how to handle marriage retreats where a homosexual couple may attend.  Speaking to the Air Force “MarriageCare” retreats:

When you advertise a MC retreat, announce the chaplain who will be leading the event and the chaplain’s endorser.  If the chaplain Read more

Michael Weinstein as Subject Matter in AF EO Course

It was noted once here before that Michael Weinstein met a newspaper’s definition for “conspiracy theorist”, though it wasn’t trying to talk about Weinstein at the time.  In that vein, Judicial Watch recently obtained training materials from an Air Force Equal Opportunity course, which had a similar unintended subject matter — listing character traits for Michael Weinstein without meaning to.

What was it the AF training was trying to describe?

An extremist.

The following text describes how the EO course inadvertenty describes many character traits that Weinstein displays.  While most won’t be interested in such a character analysis, the reason for noting this is to highlight the fact that Michael Weinstein is no run-of-the-mill “religious freedom” advocate, despite his claims.  He is, as the course material shows, a religious “extremist” intent on bending the US military to his will — even if it contradicts human liberty and the protections of the US Constitution…and an Air Force training course actually helps explain that.

Quoting from Nazis, communists, Klansmen, and others on the fringe: Political extremism in America by George and Wilcox (1992), the Air Force Equal Opportunity Read more

Group Claims Responsibility for Memorial Cross Bombing

The World, a local Oregon paper, reported that the previously unknown Veterans United for Non-religious Memorials claimed responsibility for the “bombing” of the Coos Bay veteran’s memorial:

“Apparently you are not receiving our message about the Mingus Park Veterans Memorial,” the letter reads. “We gave you warnings with the minor explosive devices at the memorial and at the Bay Area House of Prayer.”

“From now forward, we hold each of you personally responsible for causing deeper grief and insult to the families and friends of non-Christian Veterans.”

The FBI is investigating.

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Canada Installs First Openly Homosexual Chaplain General

Even as the US military tries to figure out how to balance the human liberty of religious freedom with demands for sexual liberty — and how that impacts the military chaplaincy — Canada has just appointed an openly homosexual Brigadier General to its head of all Chaplains:

Newly-appointed Brigadier General the Venerable John Fletcher was installed as the new Chaplain General during a change of appointment ceremony and service of installation for the Chaplain General of the Canadian Armed Forces on Wednesday, September 4, 2013. The newly appointed Chaplain General John Fletcher is Canada’s first openly gay chaplain to hold the position of Chaplain General.

Fletcher is an Anglican, a denomination that has a divided opinion on the acceptability of homosexuality.

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Airmen Files Religious Complaint, Gets Investigated

Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Philip Monk, who had filed a complaint of religious discrimination, had apparently inspired an Air Force investigation into his claims.  Now it seems he is being investigated for making a “false official statement.”

The Air Force has taken the first steps to criminally investigate Monk for talking to the media about his situation…

On Aug. 27, an Air Force investigator met with Monk and his attorney, Mike Berry from Liberty Institute. Berry expected it to be a routine meeting to take a statement from his client, but during the meeting the investigator said that he would read Monk his Miranda rights.

Monk was advised that he is being investigated Read more

Report Calls for Transgender Acceptance in US Military

People who are “transgendered” — who believe they are the opposite of their biological gender — remain prohibited from service in the US military.  After seeing the success of the homosexual rights movement, however, it should be no surprise to see the “T” in LGBT start to use the same techniques:

Last month, the Chicago-based Palm Center’s Transgender Military Initiative announced it was commissioning 11 studies in a $1.35 million, multi-year project with the specific aim to “inform an important public conversation by providing facts and evidence about how the U.S. armed forces could include transgender troops without undermining readiness…”

One of the studies reportedly funded by the grant will be “Understanding Aspects of Transgender Medical Accommodation and Care in the U.S. Military.”  Given that the Palm Center’s goal is to “promote” those lifestyles, the results of those $1.35M studies is probably a foregone conclusion.

Similarly, a Harvard study was published that Read more

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