Category Archives: Government and Religion

America as Ancient Rome: Impact of Moral Decay

Update: Also discussed at the Christian Post.

We’ve reached a point where people are afraid to actually talk about what they want to say, because somebody might be offended. We’ve got to get over this sensitivity; it keeps people from saying what they really believe. It muffles people, it puts a muzzle on them; and, at the same time, keeps people from discussing important issues while the fabric of their society is being changed…

Dr. Benjamin Carson, Sr., the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast:

Why is it so important that we educate our people? Because we don’t want to go down the pathway as so many pinnacle nations that have preceded us. I think particularly about ancient Rome. Very powerful. Nobody could even challenge them militarily, but what happened to them? They destroyed themselves from within. Moral decay, fiscal irresponsibility. They destroyed themselves. If you don’t think that can happen to America, you get out your books and you start reading, but you know, we can fix it.

Watch the video.

Quote from the 17:00 minute mark.

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Weinstein Admits Error, “Endorses” Caslen for West Point Supe

Contrary to a prior prediction that Michael Weinstein would seethe at the thought of LtGen Robert Caslen taking the helm as Superintendent of West Point, it seems Weinstein has chosen to do the complete opposite:

I am pleased to announce that the Military Religious Freedom Foundation fully endorses the United States Senate’s confirmation of the President’s nomination of Lt. General Robert Caslen to the position of Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point.

If only it were that simple.  The “endorsement” (cross-posted) is a veritable portrait in self-contradiction and capriciousness.  Weinstein says he is “pleased,” but later says he has “non-trivial trepidation” — yet also “wishes him well.”  Demonstrating both his repetitive redundancy and intellectual inconsistency, Weinstein says he has no idea what Caslen will “actually do,” but “he incontrovertibly deserves and merits [sic] the chance to do it.”

During Gen Caslen’s involvement in the Christian Embassy controversy in 2006, Weinstein said those involved in the scandal were equivalent to al Qaida, Iraqi militant Muqtada al Sadr, and deserved to be court-martialed.  Two years later, Weinstein Read more

Article Calls on US Military to Repeal Ban on Sikhs

Simran Jeet Singh, a doctoral student at Columbia University, wrote a Huffington Post blog entitled “Repealing the Ban Against Sikhs in the Military:”

Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez from the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice…repeated a constant refrain he has heard from the Sikhs in Oak Creek: “We love this country and want to show our love for it. But we still aren’t allowed to serve in the military.” The Assistant Attorney General then said he would elevate the Sikh desire to serve in the military to the highest levels of the Obama Administration.

The article is interesting in touching on a subject not often discussed, but it also reflects that lack of consideration.  For example, as commenters on the article noted, it was sensationally titled:  There is no ban on Sikhs — or any other religious person — serving Read more

Air Force Reading List Highlights Christian Autobiography

For the second year in a row, the biography of a military Christian has made the Chief of Staff of the Air Force’s official “Reading List.”  Last year, it was Unbroken, the story of Louis Zamperini, the Olympic athlete turned bombardier turned POW — a man who eventually became a Christian and returned to meet his former torturers.

This year, General Mark Welsh’s first list contains Lee Ellis’ Leading with Honor, previously reviewed here.  The Air Force write up says

How did American military leaders in the brutal POW camps Read more

US Military Expected to Expand Homosexual Access

Multiple news sites reported the ‘leak’ that the Pentagon was preparing to expand the list of military benefits available to homosexuals.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has not made a final decision on which benefits will be included, the officials said, but the Pentagon is likely to allow same-sex partners to have access to the on-base commissary and other military subsidized stores, as well as some health and welfare programs.

Competing articles offered differing lists of benefits expected to be extended (and refused).  Apparently, “gay activists” were leaked differing information.

Secretary Panetta’s proposed replacement, former Senator Chuck Hagel, has indicated he similarly supports the extension of benefits.

Some articles noted that there is a “fine legal line” to walk, since the Read more

Perkins Links Military Stress, DADT, Attacks on Christianity

Several critics have lambasted Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, for allegedly linking the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to the military’s suicide rate:

The stress in our military, when you look how they have used the military for their social experimentation: driving Christianity out, putting homosexuality in, suicide rate going through the ceiling…And what are they doing? Adding additional stress by this social engineering. Unbelievable.

There is no demonstrable link that repealing DADT directly contributed to suicide — and Perkins didn’t say there was.  What he described was Read more

Huckabee and the Christian Response to an Ungodly World

Former Arkansas Governor and Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was recently invited to deliver the convocation at Liberty University.  He spoke on the state of the culture in America — and noted the state of the world wasn’t merely because ungodly people have said “yes” to ungodly things, but also because Christians have not stood up to say no:

Godly people have failed to say no to the ungodly things.  Culture is moving away from godly values that it is almost unrecognizable from what it once was.

He issued a challenge to live out loud for Christ:  Read more

Wounded Warrior Project Declines Church Fundraiser

Liberty Baptist Church and Academy in Fort Pierce, FL, recently registered to host a fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project.

Imagine their surprise when the charity responded that they did not accept donations from fundraisers run by religious groups.  As reported on FoxNews:

We must decline the opportunity to be the beneficiary of your event due to our fundraising event criteria, which doesn’t allow community events to be religious in nature.

Facing an onslaught of shock and criticism, the WWP Facebook page generated this reply to virtually every person who mentioned the controversy:  Read more

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