Retired US Army Chaplain (Col) Ronald W. Benzing, now an endorser for the Associated Gospel Churches, addressed a local men’s group in North Carolina, describing how the US military has been trying to “silence” Christians. He cited what he described as a fairly recent incident:
“Two months ago we had an Army chaplain in Alaska who was told by an Air Force chaplain who was a senior chaplain, ‘You can’t preach that sermon Read more
When the DoD declined to respond to Weinstein’s letter demanding they withdraw participation from the National Day of Prayer held by Congress, he declined to make his normal vitriolic demands that the military would have to “tell it to the judge.” Instead, he threatened…more letters:
Weinstein [said] that “it is likely there will be more letters” sent to the Pentagon regarding their objection to the involvement of the Pentagon with the task force.
True to his word (this time) Weinstein wrote another (long) letter (PDF), claiming the National Day of Prayer event not only caused the DoD to violate the law, but also put Congress in violation of the law. Despite some concerted efforts on his part, the letter Read more
Update: Congressman Lamborn’s potential political rivals reacted, with Republican Bentley Rayburn, a retired Major General and 1975 USAFA graduate, saying Lamborn hasn’t done enough to support religious freedom at USAFA, while Democrat Irv Halter, also a retired Major General and 1977 USAFA graduate, says Lamborn has gone too far.
A few weeks ago congressmen asked the Secretary of the Air Force to document and explain the Air Force religious policy and its application at the US Air Force Academy, following USAFA’s command decision to pull down a Bible verse on a cadet’s whiteboard. As noted then and in a subsequent congressional hearing, the Air Force has relied heavily on AFI 1-1, a Chief of Staff level AFI published in the final days of General Norton Schwartz’s tenure in 2012.
Now, Congressman Doug Lamborn of Colorado (home to the US Air Force Academy) has written a letter signed by 22 other congressmen asking Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James to revise the policy at issue:
The August 2012 Air Force regulations which govern religious freedom and expression (AFI 1-1) are inconsistent with Congressional intent and current law…
The first issue Lamborn cites is the “undefinable” standard the Air Force uses [emphasis added]: Read more
Chuck Norris, a former Air Force Airman among other notable achievements, recently expressed disappointment at the Air Force’s decision to pull down a US Air Force Academy cadet’s Bible verse. He quotes and then agrees with retired General Jerry Boykin of the FRC, who noted
Once the academy allowed cadets to use these whiteboards for their personal use, censorship of religious commentary is unacceptable…
Norris then listed 10 examples of “prohibition of religious expression” in the military over the past few years, including USAFA’s Operation Christmas Child, Just War theory in ICBM training, the Camp Pendleton Cross, and the live Nativity in Bahrain.
He concluded the list with the perception that it gave him: Read more
View the video from approximately 4:10.
How’d you like to be the cadet who posted Galatians 2:20? You are personally responsible for influencing religious liberty policy in the US Air Force. Nicely done.
A few weeks ago the US Air Force Academy made the news when a Bible verse was stripped from a USAFA cadet’s dry erase board. The incident led Congressmen to question the Air Force leadership about the incident when they appeared for a budget meeting. Secretary James and Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh were initially defensive, citing AFI 1-1 as the justification for the command action against the cadet, though they did agree to provide a written explanation for the action. General Welsh famously expressed his “single biggest frustration” over what he called the untrue “perception [of] religious persecution” in the Air Force.
In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, Secretary James seemed to have tweaked the Air Force reaction.
In response Read more
The Air Force defended its decision to cut the A-10 from its inventory in a meeting with lawmakers last week:
Graham and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., suggested the Air Force has more work ahead to convince Congress that retiring the A-10 is a smart move.
“So for about $3.5 billion over the next five years, if [Congress] could find the money, could you afford to keep the A-10 on board?” Graham said.
Welsh said money wasn’t the only problem…
In an interesting twist, the US Army — which has traditionally been “accused” of wanting the A-10 and criticizing the Air Force for wanting to get rid of it — actually seems to be supportive of the decision: Read more
Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James, Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh, and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force James Cody recently took to YouTube to explain the Air Force core values “matter.”
The video is interesting, but even more interesting is the way the official Air Force Facebook page intro’d the video [emphasis added]:
When you voluntarily raised your right hand and took the oath of enlistment to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against enemies foreign and domestic — you purposely gave up a piece of yourself. You were remolded and given a new set of core values, which are integrity first, service before self and excellence in all we do.
That statement seems to presuppose that men and women enter the Air Force without values of integrity, service, or excellence. While that is absolutely Read more
The US Air Force Academy apparently determined it was “inappropriate” for a cadet to write a Bible verse on the dry erase board outside his room door (because his roommate was a “leader”).
No worries. USAFA still has a Bible verse in a far more public place: The center of its campus, at the bottom or a 9-foot tall statue of Robbie Risner:
Who will go? Send me! – Isaiah 6:8
