Tag Archives: atheism

Atheists Cite False Data in Military Chaplain Bid. Again.

Update:  The Air Force Times repeated the atheist claim that “one in five” troops need “clergy who don’t believe in a god.”  Also at the Stars and Stripes and Washington Times.

In what has become a recurring theme, atheists lobbying for a spot in the military chaplaincy misrepresented demographic data to support their cause.  Again.  The American Humanist Association — which is attempting to endorse the first atheist chaplain — equates the military category of “no religious preference” with “a secular values system.”

“23% of US military soldiers claim “no religious preference” thus indicating a secular values system”

Jason Torpy, who has positions at both the Read more

US House Again Adopts Bill to Ban Atheist Chaplains

Update: Jason Torpy, UCC endorser Stephen Boyd, and US Army Major Ryan Jean have announced their intentions to provide a briefing to Congress on the need for a humanist/atheist chaplain.  Their announcement repeats the misleading fact that many in the military declare “no religious preference.”

US Rep John Fleming (R-La) again added an amendment to the annual Defense Appropriations bill that would prevent chaplains from being commissioned in the US military if they don’t have a proper endorsing agency. Because non-theists don’t have a religious endorsing agency required by military regulations, his bill has the effect of preventing atheists or humanists from becoming chaplains;  Read more

Petition Calls on USAFA to Protect Religious Freedom

A petition sponsored by the Family Research Council and the Restore Military Religious Freedom coalition garnered more than 100,000 signatures before it was delivered to the US Air Force Academy last week.

The petition seems nobly intended:

The petition calls on the Air Force Academy to protect the First Amendment rights of cadets, after a recent incident in which a cadet was censored for writing a Bible verse on a white board outside of his dorm room.

and its text calls for USAFA to “protect the religious expression” of cadets:

Recently, a handwritten Bible verse on a United States Air Force Academy cadet’s dry-erase board was removed after a complaint by an anti-Christian activist group…As an American, I trust the Air Force Academy to train up the best young men and women our nation has to offer…Part of that trust hinges upon the notion that the Academy would protect the religious freedom Read more

Group Tries to Stoke Controversy over Atheist Chaplain

Update: Jason Torpy revived the issue enough to generate a Navy Times article, though it contained no new information.  In fact, a Navy official reiterated a point made below — even humanists can’t really put bounds on a definition of “humanism:”

“Humanism’s not a defined term across the country,” the official said. “There’s a group of Jewish Humanists. The Humanist Society was once the Humanist Society of Friends, a Quaker organization.”

The official, referring to Heap, continued: “I don’t know that he represents a religious organization by any accepted definition.”

Tom Carpenter, a former Marine pilot and one of the founders of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy — the homosexual advocacy group that lobbied for the repeal of DADT — has attacked the Navy chaplaincy for not approving the chaplaincy application of Jason Heap, a self-described non-theistic humanist. Tragically, if not predictably, Carpenter seems to base his attack on “evidence” that does not exist [emphasis added]:

…The Navy Chief of Chaplains rejected the application of Jason Heap, a highly qualified chaplain candidate who would have been the first Humanist military chaplain. All the evidence leads invariably to the conclusion this decision was based upon a Constitutionally prohibited “religious test.”

What public evidence is there the Navy rejected the application based on a “religious test?” None whatsoever.

Carpenter implies — repeatedly — the Navy Read more

Archdiocese Offers Mass at Recruit Training Center

As noted in an official Navy article, Catholic Bishop Robert Coyle, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, recently visited the US Naval Recruit Training Center at Great Lakes, Illinois. He was able to meet with the Command’s leadership and celebrate communion with trainees at the Recruit Memorial Chapel. As every trainee of every branch knows, the ability to celebrate one’s faith during the intensity of basic training can provide the support and strength to persevere:

During Catholic services at RTC, recruits volunteer to sing in the choir or serve at the altars. Recruits can also offer prayers, read scripture and take Holy Communion. According to Seaman Recruit Katrina Biggs, taking Read more

USCIRF Appointee: Religious Freedom is Fundamental Right

Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest, was recently appointed by President Obama to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. The USCIRF makes policy recommendations to the US government regarding “freedom of religion or belief abroad.”

In a recent column, Reese expounded on the 2014 USCIRF report (published before his appointment) and highlighted the USCIRF’s assertion that religious freedom is a “fundamental human right,” one that even the US doesn’t always get exactly right:  Read more

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