Category Archives: Government and Religion

Religious Faiths Coexist in US Military

In an apparent effort to thwart conspiracy theorists, the US military has occasionally taken to publicizing what is obvious to the casual observer within the military.  Over the past few years, for example, the military has posted a variety of news articles noting servicemembers of all faiths and no faith have the protected ability to exercise their ideologies even while serving.

Just this week, the Navy published an awkwardly-titled but sincerely-written piece from the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, “Members of Differing Faiths Peacefully Coexist on Navy Aircraft Carrier.”  Obviously, members of different faiths peacefully coexist throughout the military, though some might allege otherwise without substantiation.  The article offers a concise and fairly comprehensive coverage of the efforts by the US military to appropriately ensure the religious rights of its members:  Read more

US Navy Supports Ramadan, Official Hajj

According to a Navy release, Muslim Sailors aboard the USS Harry S Truman were able to celebrate the end of Ramadan while on their cruise.  The US Navy followed standard policies on religious accommodation, and provided meals especially for the observant Sailors, as described by the Truman‘s Chaplain:

“Whatever a person’s religious background, the Navy’s policy is to accommodate that person’s religious needs,” said Cmdr. Jerome Hinson…”We are able to arrange meals for them before sunrise and after sunset. Depending on their work schedules, we accommodate their needs as much as we can.”

The Sailors themselves spoke positively about the Navy’s support of their religious Read more

Army Joe Leads Platoon Through IEDs

McClatchy Newspapers originated an interesting article on the various new vehicles now fielded by the US military in its attempts to overcome the threats of IEDs.  The vehicles vary from hulking “buffaloes” to the single-man “Husky,” as driven by US Army SPC Joshua Joe:

Joe, a broad-built 22-year-old from Sumter, S.C., with the Lord’s Prayer tattooed on his bulging forearm, is one of the Husky drivers.

Joe’s platoon, which is part of Task Force Thor, prays together in a huddle before beginning a mission.

Read the full article.

“Freedom” Groups Object to Prayers on Navy Ships

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has protested the tradition of evening prayers onboard US Navy ships, saying they

violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because military personnel are being coerced to participate in religious exercises…

These officially sanctioned prayers compel service members of varying beliefs and non-belief to listen to and participate in religious exercises…

While it purported to condemn all prayer, the FRFF intentionally highlighted Christianity, even citing the frequently-used and inaccurately attributed concept that

Jesus condemned as hypocrisy public prayer…

If nothing else, the FRFF appears to be intellectually consistent, since demanding an end to the prayers achieves their end of freedom “from” exposure to religious thought.  On the other hand, such consistency is lacking for the MRFF, who also Read more

Groups Use Threats of Others’ Violence to Achieve Ends?

In an interesting perspective, Eugene Volokh writes an article on the “conflict” between the Koran-burning church in Florida and Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).  To the point, he quotes Hooper saying:

Can you imagine what this will do to our image around the world…And the additional danger it will add whenever there is an American presence in Iraq or Afghanistan?

After going through several explanatory examples and analogies, Volokh draws an interesting conclusion:

In those situations, the mainstream group representative seems to be consciously using the threat of [others’] extremist violence to achieve his own ideological goals. And he also seems to be trying to blame the people who are exercising their rights for the violence that would supposedly ensue. This sort of political tactic does not reflect well on the mainstream group.

Separate from Koran burning and CAIR, Volokh’s perspective has an interesting application to religious freedom in the military.  After all, Read more

Koran Burning: Copy Cats, Hypocrisy, and Replacement Texts

According to Military.com, the small, controversial Westboro Baptist Church has joined the criticism of the planned Koran burnings in Florida, but not for the reason everyone else is.  Their reason?

They did it first.  And no one noticed.

It’s that in 2008 she and her father’s Topeka flock set fire to a Quran in plain view on a Washington, D.C., street and nobody seemed to care…

Westboro has even said if Jones doesn’t burn the Koran, they will.  Elsewhere, there is an increasing chorus of “hypocrisy” accusations against US officials.  The US government previously said it burned Bibles in Afghanistan; even at that time, there was a sense that

“if it had been the Quran, this never would have happened.”

Other news agencies picked up on the “unusual” Read more

General: “Do You Have Moral Courage?”

General Darryl W. Burke, commander of the 82nd Training Wing, pens an interesting commentary on the official Air Force site.  He asks a simple question:  “Do you have moral courage?”

While academically interesting, it’s noteworthy that the General never really defines moral courage.  He simply seems to assume there are two kinds of courage: physical and non-physical (moral).

Moral courage is more than just “mental courage,” however.  It is not merely the courage to stand up for the correct answer; it is the courage to stand up for what is right. 

Moral courage has been mentioned by military leadership before.

“Demons” in US Military Cause Protest, Sort of

If you can get past the title, Dr. James White’s article “Strippers Going to War” has an interesting perspective on religion in the military.  Dr. White is Professor of Theology and Culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

White’s topic is the Christian reaction — or over-reaction — to perceptions of sin or evil in the culture.  In one example, he cites the case of Pastor Donald Crosby of the Kingdom Builders Church of Jesus Christ in Warner Robins, Georgia.  (The story was originally covered by USA Today via WMAZ in Macon, Ga.)  The pastor enrolled his son in the local high school, only to discover their mascot was…a demon:

He’s been collecting signatures of protest ever since, saying that a pitchfork-wielding mascot sends the wrong message to teens.  “Hundreds of children gather into one place at one time chanting ‘Go Demons.’  It’s the equivalent of us gathering into a church on Sunday morning and shouting ‘Go, Jesus’ or ‘Hallelujah Jesus,’ the pastor maintains.

Interesting thing is, that’s not at all the history behind the mascot:

School principal Steve Monday says that the origin of the mascot isn’t religious at all.  In fact, it started in World War II from the 7th fighter squadron at Robbins [sic] Air Force Base, Read more

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