Category Archives: Government and Religion

Camp Pendleton Cross Defended, Torpy Ignores Second Cross

A follow-up article to last week’s conflagration over the memorial cross raised by Marines on Camp Pendleton indicates the Marine base had no idea the ruckus that was about to ensue.

Which, of course, they didn’t, because the Marines were acting on their own, not on the part of the Corps or the government.  (Of course, local attorney Randall Halmud said the group was still culpable: “When they erected their cross on that hilltop, they violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution…”)

Public supporters of the cross, many from the Marine base itself, have swarmed news sites with comments.  The people themselves varied from atheist to religious, military to civilian. 

A Facebook site has appeared entitled Keep the Camp Pendleton Cross.  The page highlights some history of the memorial — a site which contains more than the cross.  Notably, the memorial was rebuilt by more than 100 Marines from RCT-1, has been visited by entire units, and was even the subject of a prior Public Affairs news piece.

A few supporters of the memorial seem to have found MAAF Jason Torpy’s website, leaving messages of their Read more

NYC Arrest Makes 11 Islamic Terrorists Targeting US Military

A variety of news sites reported the breaking news that New York City police had arrested Jose Pimentel, a native of the Dominican Republic who had moved from upstate New York to the city.

The intended targets of Jose Pimentel…were U.S. military personnel who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as U.S. postal facilities and police stations, according to Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

The suspect was described by Bloomberg as an “al Qaeda sympathizer,” though he is not believed to have ever made direct contact with anyone in the organization.

District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., reportedly said

On his website, Pimentel discussed the duty of every Muslim to wage war against the west.

Pimentel would make Read more

Abdo Pleads Not Guilty to Bomb Charges

PFC Naser Abdo pled not guilty to charges he planned to kill American Soldiers at Fort Hood by blowing up a local restaurant and shooting any survivors.

Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo answered “sure do” Thursday when U.S. Magistrate Jeff Manske asked if he understood the charges, and said “sure do have none” when asked if he had questions about the charges.

Prosecutors reportedly plan to try him first on the charges which carry the longest sentences.  He faces life in prison if convicted.

Atheists Object to Camp Pendleton Cross

Update:  FoxNews reports on the “investigation” of the cross.  The ACLJ has written a letter to Camp Pendleton explaining the appropriateness — and Constitutionality — of allowing the cross to remain.  They, too, highlight the Argonne cross in Arlington mentioned below.  In reference to the Utah trooper crosses mentioned below, the Highway Patrol logo has been stripped from the crosses and a disclaimer has been added in a bid to avoid their court-ordered removal.

It didn’t take long:  When Jason Torpy of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers saw the LA Times report on the Camp Pendleton cross, he was quick to call it

a “wonderful gesture” in remembrance of the fallen Marines, but said its location on public land “makes us feel like the federal government privileges Christianity over non-Christians like us, makes us feel like second-class citizens…”

[T]heir desire to erect a large cross to honor their memory is perfectly acceptable, so long as it is on church land or their own property, not on federal land.

Further, Torpy claims the Marines’ cross is an intentional effort to by the government to afford preference to Christianity:

Military service is being exploited Read more

Tennessee State Rep Calls for Removing Muslims from Military

A few websites have noted Tennessee State Representative Rick Womick’s statement to ThinkProgress interviewers that Muslims should be removed from the US military.  The video is available on YouTube.

It’s worth noting Womick’s political position has been somewhat inflated in a few reports.  For example, ThinkProgress suffixed his name with (R-TN), as did some others, which is inaccurate.  The “party-state” designation is used for members of the US House; it is redundant to say “Tennessee state rep (R-TN).”  The more accurate description is (R-34) or R-Rockvale, as Womick represents District 34 in the Tennessee State House.  As a state representative, Womick has no influence over the US military.  (As an aside, Rep Womick was an F-15 fighter pilot during Operation Desert Storm.)

That said, his comments were widely reported and not well received (with one exception).  He’s been described as un-American and said to be “defaming all members of the military.”

Womick uses US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan and PFC Naser Abdo (though he forgets his name) as support for his position, saying they are examples of the Islamic inconsistency with military service.

Ironically, it seems Rep Womick agrees with religious freedom critic Michael Read more

USAFA Relationship with Atheists “Bears Fruit”

Despite Michael Weinstein’s continuous ridicule of the US Air Force Academy, Jason Torpy and his Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers paint quite a different picture — and Torpy looks like a calm foil to Weinstein’s blustering grandstanding:

Continuing what is now nearly a year of collaboration, the Air Force Academy has made significant changes to training as a result of reviews by the Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers…  Read more

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