Much like the recent comments from the Chief of Navy Chaplains, US Army Chaplain Col Dallas Speight recently spoke on the chaplain’s role, and made a point of emphasizing their ability to help in sexual assault:
Most people know that chaplains provide for the religious needs of Soldiers and their families, irrespective of religious Read more
Former US Army Captain Jason Torpy, currently leading the one-man Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, recently attempted to evaluate the decision by Private Bradley Manning to call himself a “humanist.”
In an article at the American Humanist Association, for which Torpy is the Treasurer, he writes “Is Bradley Manning Really a Humanist?”
[Manning lawyer] David Coombs…made a show that Manning had ID tags with “humanist” written on them…Coombs argued, “that his actions came from his deeply held beliefs that all lives had value, Iraqi and American.” Because the defense is leaning on Manning’s humanist beliefs, this trial also calls for humanist attention as well.
Torpy apparently thinks the humanist community needs to think Read more
Many sites have now reported on US Army MSgt Nathan Sommers, a member of the US Army Band, who has apparently been targeted for his words or actions associated with “his conservative political and religious beliefs.”
As reported at FoxNews, Sommers
said he is facing retribution and punishment from the military for having anti-Obama bumper stickers on his car, reading books written by conservative authors like Mark Levin and David Limbaugh, and serving Chick-fil-A sandwiches at his promotion party.
For its part, the Army categorically denied Read more
On June 6th, many outlets highlighted the 69th anniversary of the D-Day landings that would ultimately free Europe from the reign of Nazi terror. They also highlighted the fact that thousands of US servicemembers died storming the beaches, many of whom are buried in France and Luxembourg. Iconic images recall the price:
WWII and D-Day veteran Raymond Moon kneels before the grave of a fallen comrade at the American cemetery at Omaha Beach in Normandy, France on Friday, June 4, 2004. Moon served in the 29th Division and returned to France for the 60th anniversary of D-Day. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch) / ASSOCIATED PRESS
As the world remembered that sacrifice, however, inappropriate timing by atheists tried to doom the memory of Read more
In the face of the “sexual assault” scandal in the US military, Department of Defense leaders fanned out across graduation ceremonies to call on new and graduating officers to live out moral courage. From Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, speaking to the graduating class of 2013 at West Point [ellipses original]:
When you are faced with difficult decisions, you will always know that the right thing to do…is the right thing to do. Do it. Listen to yourself and be guided by what you believe is right.
Standing against the crowd and choosing the harder right instead of the easier wrong, as the Cadet Prayer prescribes, can be very lonely and frightening at times. And it requires immense moral courage.
It is an interesting position to assert that every officer knows the right thing to do — meaning many in the current controversies have been knowingly choosing to do the “wrong thing.” Of course, the “moral courage” to which Secretary Hagel refers presupposes a knowledge of right and wrong; normally, that is defined outside of “listening to yourself,” unless one includes a moral and religious upbringing in one’s character.
Secretary Hagel is Read more
Update: Former Marine pilot Tom Carpenter of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy — a liberal activist group — largely repeated the list below a few weeks later, though he did so without attribution.
Jason Torpy, the one-man band that is the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, recently posted a point-by-point refutation of recent accusations of the US military being hostile to Christianity.
Much of his disagreement was nuance or the way in which something was phrased, which isn’t worth discussing here. The interesting ones, though, were the cases in which he agreed with the US military’s “anti-Christian” actions:
January 2010 — Department of Defense orders removal of tiny Bible references on military scopes and gunsights.
Torpy: True and appropriate.
This issue has been discussed before. While there is no religious requirement the references remain, the fact they were targeted because of their (obscure) religious reference — only after Michael Weinstein complained, notably — is troubling. That he would seek this Read more
The short 5-minute video is retired Chaplain (MajGen) Douglas Carver, formerly the US Army Chief of Chaplains, and now the executive director of chaplain services for the North American Mission Board, sharing stories from his experiences as a chaplain in the US Army.
One of the most interesting, at about the 2:00 mark, is his story about a civilian-clothed operator whom he helped reconcile his mission — covertly tracking and killing the enemy, on a personal level — and the righteousness of God. As the story continues, Chaplain Carver relates how that man came to help him.
Via the Alliance Defending Freedom’s Speak Up.
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FoxNews reports on the continuation of a “scandal” from 2010: Trijicon, the maker of the much-vaunted ACOG gun sight, was known for putting an abbreviated Bible verse reference on the end of its serial numbers. Michael Weinstein found out, claimed that Islamic terrorists were offended when they were shot by rifles with these scopes, and demanded the Army remove them. Trijicon ultimately offered to provide kits to remove the references. (After threatening legal action against Trijicon, Weinstein also apparently implied his MRFF was a Christian organization…)
The Army now claims these inscriptions violated the terms of the contract: Read more