Category Archives: Government and Religion

Court Creates More Questions than Answers in Blocking Transgender Ban

This week US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly enjoined the US military from implementing a ban on enlisting transgenders. Interestingly, the ruling claimed the US military opposed its own policy [emphasis added]:

The Court finds that a number of factors — including the sheer breadth of the exclusion ordered by the directives, the unusual circumstances surrounding the President’s announcement of them, the fact that the reasons given for them do not appear to be supported by any facts, and the recent rejection of those reasons by the military itself — strongly suggest that Plaintiffs’ Fifth Amendment claim is meritorious.

The ruling is interesting for a couple of reasons — reasons which indicate it will either easily be overturned or will otherwise portend a new relationship among the judiciary, the US Constitution, and the US military.

The plaintiffs — described as “current Read more

USAFA Class of 2020 Chooses Bob Hoover as Exemplar

For the past few years each class at the US Air Force Academy has chosen an “exemplar,” a program USAFA describes as an opportunity for the class to

honor and identify with a past military giant, alive or dead.

This year, the USAFA Class of 2020 chose Bob Hoover.

Among other stories,

1st Lt. Robert Hoover, a former Army Air Corps, Air Force and civilian test pilot…of Nashville, Tennessee, was taken captive by the Germans after being shot-down by the Luftwaffe over France during World War II. He spent 16 months in Stalag Luft I, a German POW camp, before sneaking into a German FW-190 aircraft and flying to Holland. It was his fourth attempt to escape the prison.

Though officially Read more

US Christian Chaplain Advises Afghan Military Religious Leaders

An interesting US Air Force story describes how US Air Force Chaplain (Maj) Chris Conklin is acting as an advisor to the Afghan Air Force Religious and Cultural Affairs office, a rough equivalent to their chaplaincy:

Chaplain (Maj.) Chris Conklin is the first air advisor charged with assisting the Afghan military’s religious and cultural affairs program with the mission of effective religious care and spiritual readiness for those who defend their nation.

Interestingly, the article makes a point to say their discussions aren’t religious in nature: Read more

Is the US Military Creating Its Own Sexual Misbehavior Problem?

Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council, asked last week if the US military was creating its own problems by sending “mixed signals on morality”. Speaking on the recent firing of an Army General who had sent “flirty” messages to another man’s wife, Perkins said:

It is wrong because its immoral. It violates the moral law of the Creator.

But this is what happens when society thinks it can give a green light to some forms of immoral behavior while red lighting others. You end up with moral confusion…

When we deny Read more

MRFF Gives MRFF an MRFF Award for Donating to MRFF

Mikey Weinstein’s good side, via Pam Zubeck.

A few years ago, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein begged his supporters to search for awards that his “charity” could win, even saying they’d provide the supporting text for the submission — meaning, of course, the MRFF was essentially trying to get itself “awarded”. And Weinstein wasn’t even shy about the motivation for such self-promotion, clearly stating on his own website at the time [emphasis added]: Read more

A Thousand Air Force Trainees Attend Humanist Chapel…Sort of

Over the past couple of years a group of self-described atheists and humanists has been hosting an alternative Sunday service for trainees at Air Force basic training at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX. The effort was largely led by Victoria Gettman, a former US Army Sergeant on whose behalf Michael “Mikey” Weinstein once promised (and, predictably, failed to deliver) an “aggressive” federal lawsuit.

Gettman and her cadre have been lauding the attendance numbers at their non-theistic weekly gathering — including the fact it has now reached 1,000, the maximum capacity of the venue granted by the Air Force, meaning they have to turn trainees away.  But Gettman’s explanation has an interesting caveat [emphasis added]: Read more

DoJ Publishes Protections for Religious Liberty

The following excerpt is from Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ Memorandum for All Executive Departments and Agencies regarding “Federal Law Protections for Religious Liberty”.  Emphasis added.  The document is available as a PDF here (.gov).

Religious liberty is a foundational principle of enduring importance in America, enshrined in our Constitution and other sources of federal law…Religious liberty is not merely a right to personal religious beliefs or even to worship in a sacred place. It also encompasses religious observance and practice. Except in the narrowest circumstances, no one should be forced to choose between living out his or her faith and complying with the law.

Therefore, to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law, religious observance and practice should be reasonably accommodated in all government activity, including employment, contracting, and programming. The following twenty principles should guide administrative agencies and executive departments in carrying out this task.

  1. The freedom of religion is a fundamental right of paramount importance, expressly protected by federal law.
  2. The free exercise of religion include the right to act or abstain from action in accordance with one’s religious beliefs.
  3. The freedom of religion extends to persons and organizations.
  4. Americans do not give up their freedom of religion by participating in the marketplace, partaking of the public square, or interacting with government.
  5. Government may not restrict Read more

Bethesda Dedicates Interfaith Center

Naval Support Activity Bethesda recently dedicated an “interfaith” room to support the religious activities of the troops who spend time in the many organizations hosted in the local area:

Some of the programs planned for the Interfaith Center are Monday Mass Catholic worship, “Worship on Wednesdays” Protestant service, Buddhist Worship and prayers, Muslim daily prayers, and Bible study groups, among other uses.

US Navy Chaplain (CAPT) Roosevelt Brown, the chief chaplain at the local Belvoir Community Hospital, specifically praised the decision to call it an “interfaith” room: Read more

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