Tag Archives: atheism

Atheists Target Military Memorials. Again.

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:

Kneeling at Normandy

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

Military Atheist Chaplain Amendment Fails

Most popular press covered the religious freedom portions of the controversies surrounding the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act.  Another interesting conversation, though, occurred with an official attempt by Congress to mandate atheist chaplains.

Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) offered the amendment to the [NDAA]. The amendment would have allowed humanists and other nonbelievers join the Chaplain Corps.

(The topic of atheist chaplains has come up many times before.)  Polis said atheists were “denied” a “right” because they could not “confide in an adviser who is not a mental health professional.”  The amendment was defeated, according to some reports, because it was “absurd.”  (This was actually the second Read more

Michael Weinstein Inspires Congressional Action, Part 2

Update: Weinstein responded:

Weinstein is the kind of guy who revels in the dislike of his adversaries.

“How terrified are these little pu***es in Congress that they have to pass an amendment about me?” he shouted in a phone interview from the foundation’s headquarters in Albuquerque, N.M., using a putdown associated with a woman’s genitalia.

Always classy.

In the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act, US Rep John Fleming successfully changed the 2013 NDAA wording after the US Air Force appeared to be acting as a part of Michael Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation’s self-described “war” on Christians.

Weinstein also inspired US Rep Tim Huelskamp (R-Ks) to add an amendment of his own which would require the Department of Defense to report to Congress every time it met with an outside group for the purpose of

writing, revising, issuing, implementing, enforcing, or seeking advice, input, or counsel regarding military policy related to religious liberty.

This was clearly in response to Weinstein’s 23 April meeting with the JAG of the US Air Force, among others, which Weinstein bragged about to his like-minded media arm, Sally Quinn.  Rep Huelskamp even called it a “rebuke” of “anti-Christian zealot Michael Weinstein.”

The MRFF has sarcastically embraced this amendment, because it would “force” the DoD to report on its meetings with groups like Chaplain endorsers:  Read more

US Air Force Cockpit Atheist Speaks on Christian Troops

A 2011 graduate of the US Air Force Academy is apparently making his mark as a “cockpit atheist” US Air Force officer (and, presumably, an eventual Air Force pilot).

The cockpit atheist is a “militant” atheist, in his own words, and apparently has a famous umbrella.

As noted previously, some people seem to think the Air Force, or the US military, is overrun by Christians.  A few think military officers aren’t allowed to speak out about their religious beliefs.

It seems the cockpit atheist undermines the former point and disagrees with the latter.  The Lieutenant has taken not only to the internet with his religious beliefs and his status as an Air Force officer, but also to a small variety of atheist events from Rock Read more

Atheist Supports Restricting Military Religious Freedom

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

Mikey Weinstein Losing PR Battle over Military Religious Freedom

Update: US Rep Steve Stockman (R-Tx) had this to say:

“Asking Mikey Weinstein to write policies on religious tolerance is like asking David Duke to plan an MLK celebration,” said Stockman.  “His bizarre conspiracy theories and strident bigotry have no place in a sensible country.”

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, of his self-founded “charity,” the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, struck a desperate tone recently as he tried to fend off the blowback from his ego-stroking announcement that he’d had a private meeting with senior military leaders about “religious issues.”

More than any recent event, his own boasting has caused people to take notice of his trail of vitriolic op-eds pronouncing Christians “monsters” or saying US military Christians are trying to institute what he calls “Plan B” — an American holocaust.

In other words, Weinstein’s “over the top” attacks on religious freedom are backfiring, and he’s back on his heels.

He and a few of his staff took to the internet to push back, claiming Read more

Southern Baptist Website Blocked on Military Computers

Update: The DoD says the SBC website was blocked because malware was detected, but that connection from military servers would be restored “today.” The Southern Baptist Convention weighed in, with a caution not to rush to judgment.  Also at the Air Force Times, Christian Post, and Baptist Press.

FoxNews reports that the Southern Baptist Convention website was blocked on military servers — and the military confirmed it:

The Dept. of Defense confirmed to Fox News late Wednesday that the SBC website had been blocked — but not intentionally.

“The Department of Defense is not intentionally blocking access to this site, said Lt. Col. Damien Pickart. “We are working diligently to investigate what might be causing access issues for some of our service members and to correct the situation as quickly as possible.”

Part of the reason the situation requires “correction” is that certain servicemembers need access to the site as part of their function: namely, the many SBC chaplains in the military:

“It’s a concern for the Dept. of Defense to block the website of one of the major evangelical denominations in the country,” Crews told Fox News. “The Southern Baptist Convention has the largest number of chaplains in the military representing Southern Baptist soldiers and churches. Those chaplains need access to their denomination’s website.”

As noted the last time the issue of military internet access came up, it’s not as simple as “the government is censoring/blocking/etc” or being hostile toward Read more

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