Category Archives: Government and Religion

Military Atheists Respond: Dustin Chalker and the Facts

It seems the prior article on the White House petition to “end discrimination” against military atheists struck a chord, most notably with its creator, Dustin Chalker.

Chalker posted a response to the article with his MRFF ally Chris Rodda as an independent blog.  Not all of the assumptions Rodda and Chalker made were necessarily accurate, but the response here, as some have seen, has been interesting.  Most who have commented failed to actually read the story behind any of Chalker’s accusations, making such deep and thoughtful statements as “You’re a coward” easy, if logically unsupported, diatribes to make in their passionate support of Chalker.

Though he never indicated so himself, Rodda claims Dustin Chalker – who sued the Department of Defense as an Army Sergeant – is now the civilian “Mr.” Chalker, though she contradictorily uses his rank in the present tense.

Both Rodda’s and Chalker’s comments contained factual errors, though accuracy has never been Rodda’s strong suit.  Some of the more salient points of Chalker’s comment are below:

Chalker said it was “lying” to say his lawsuit  Read more

Defense Department Highlights Member-Designated Benefits

In an apparent effort to help homosexual military members gain access to the most benefits they legally can, the Defense Department issued a “reminder” that some benefits are “member-designated.”  These benefits can go to any person, regardless of relationship (and thus avoid the restrictions of, say, the Defense of Marriage Act).

The DoD “identified” 14 benefits that can be designated to any person:  Read more

Weinstein Demands Chaplain’s Head for Buddhist Proselytizing?

In a rare break from his focus on Christianity, Military Religious Freedom Foundation “president” Michael Weinstein has called for US Air Force Academy Chaplain (Col) Robert Bruno to be court-martialed for his attempts to convert cadets…to Buddhism:

US Air Force Chaplain Colonel Bruno…should face immediate criminal charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for these disgusting, prima facie examples of dereliction of duty by flagrant violations of the solemn oaths they took…

Actually, strike that, Weinstein didn’t display that intellectual integrity.  Instead, he continued his focus on Christianity:

[Chaplain Bruno is a] heinous Poster Child[] of unconstitutional, fundamentalist Christian supremacy Read more

Muslim Soldier on Faith and Service

The Stars and Stripes ran an article entitled “Some Muslim servicemembers struggle to balance faith and service,” though the article cited only a single former servicemember, former Army SSgt Mohammad A. Hasan.  After 9 years of service, with his Islamic faith a non-issue, he said a deployment to Iraq set him apart from his peers:

With a dark complexion and Muslim name, the Bangladesh-born soldier’s loyalty was at times questioned by suspicious troops during his deployment in Iraq, he said.

The article continues to use the plural with reference to “struggling” Muslim Soldiers, though it fails to mention any others.  In fact, it quotes both former Navy Read more

Army Addresses Spiritual Resiliency

At a Spiritual Resiliency Luncheon in October, US Army Chaplain (Col) Barbara Sherer, assistant commandant of the US Army Chaplain Center and School, was introduced by Third Infantry Division Commander MajGen Robert “Abe” Abrams to speak on spiritual resiliency.

“Resilience is that ability to come back and spring back to whatever should be normal for you,” she said.

Resilience has been increasingly important in the Army as Soldiers Read more

Army Atheists Get it Wrong on Chaplains. Again.

The “military director” of American Atheists and coordinator for “Rock Beyond Belief” at Fort Bragg, Justin Griffith, previously misstepped when he tried to ‘humorously’ make the point “there are no chaplains in foxholes.’  (Even some who support him have asked him not to demean the service of chaplains who died in the line of duty or received such accolades as the Medal of Honor.)

Griffith was also so offended by an answer BrigGen Rhonda Cornum gave in a media interview that he misquoted her and allowed another military atheist, Dustin Chalker, to rail on about her misquoted statement.

Now, he’s done it again.

This time Griffith targeted Read more

Soldiers Tour Ancient Ziggurat

While US forces are exiting Iraq, some are still taking the unique opportunity to tour ancient sites in the area.  American COB Adder in Iraq is located near the Ziggurat of Ur, which US Army reservists recently got to visit while supporting other functions.  Ziggurats were used in the religions of ancient Mesopotamia.

While there are many challenges in the military, including the dangers of a combat zone, members of the military are also able to take part in once in a lifetime opportunities.

MRFF Petition Garners Signatures for White House

Dustin Chalker, an Army Sergeant and MRFF “client,” publicly announced that he started a petition on the whitehouse.gov “We the People” website calling for an “End [to] the Military’s Discrimination against Non-Religious Service Members.”

The petition wording reflects some of the sentiment behind Chalker’s failed lawsuit against the Army — a lawsuit that was tossed out because Chalker failed to use the internal grievance systems the Army has in place.  The petition contains similarly vague claims of illegal conduct, which are (still) unsupported to date by any public facts:  Read more

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