Tag Archives: atheism

MAAF Misrepresents Data in Brief to White House

The Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers was one of several groups that recently met with White House staff members as part of a White House meeting with the Secular Coalition for America.

According to the MAAF web page on the meeting, president Jason Torpy presented a briefing at the meeting that claimed to explain the relative percentages of faiths represented in the military.  His briefing grossly misrepresented numeric government data, apparently in an attempt to strengthen the MAAF position and demands.

In what the MAAF called a “new MAAF demographics study,” which was actually an MAAF presentation of a study done by the Defense Manpower Data Center, the MAAF said

DoD data show nearly one-quarter of the military is nontheistic

Using the DMDC data, the MAAF claimed that 23.4% of the Department of Defense was “nontheistic.”  Based on this number, according to the MAAF, “nontheists constitute a significant portion of the military.”  Thus,

Military and Civilian leadership must recognize and support this significant demographic

Some might say numbers don’t lie, but the MAAF certainly demonstrated that one can misrepresent them to support untrue Read more

There are No Atheists in Foxholes

The phrase “there are no atheists in foxholes” is not without controversy.  (In fact, one Soldier even went so far as to file an official complaint because an officer used the “discriminatory” phrase.)  The old saying, whose origin is unknown, isn’t meant as a moral conclusion or a statement of fitness.  It simply characterizes the belief that in extreme situations and faced with mortal danger, many people are open to the concept of some form of higher power.

There are certainly examples of the opposite truth.  A New Hampshire publication Read more

Prayer, Government, and the US Military

The National Prayer Breakfast was already a controversial event this year, as at least one group had urged President Obama to skip the annual event attended by sitting Presidents for the past few decades.

He chose to attend, but he did not avoid controversy.  He addressed the concerns of those who did not want him to attend by specifically speaking against a law about homosexuals in Uganda.  The normally smooth orator also managed to mispronounce a military rank, calling a Navy medic a “corpse-man” rather than a “corpsman” (properly pronounced “core-man”) (not once, but three times), and he expressed the thought that non-theists Read more

Atheist-Turned-Baptist Chaplain Serves All

An interesting article in the Houston Chronicle discusses the rise and fall of religious iconography in the Protestant church.  The interesting part of the article is the subject, US Army Chaplain (LtCol) John Laing.  Laing is an atheist-turned-Baptist preacher:

Growing up, Laing was also taught that the honorable thing for young men to do is to serve their country. The Laing that joined the Army was a self-proclaimed atheist, though his basic training drill sergeant made him put “no religious preference” on his dog tag rather than “atheist.”

After he became a Christian, Laing led his fellow scouts, who often had to miss chapel service for reconnaissance missions, in prayer Read more

MRFF Threatens Trijicon with Legal Action

The notoriously blunt-speaking Michael Weinstein recently demonstrated an unusually thin skin when he threatened legal action against a potential critic of his organization.  The statement at issue occurred in the original ABC News article on the Trijicon gun sights:

Tom Munson, director of sales and marketing for Trijicon, which is based in Wixom, Michigan, said the inscriptions “have always been there” and said there was nothing wrong or illegal with adding them. Munson said the issue was being raised by a group that is “not Christian.”

Apparently, the MRFF is offended by that characterization, though the MRFF isn’t explicitly named and the quote itself is paraphrased.  Weinstein’s organization took the unusual step of releasing its legal correspondence to an internet blogger, who quoted the following paragraph from a legal letter in response to the statement above:

Referring to the Foundation as a group which is “not Christian” is not only inaccurate and shamelessly false, but demonstrably contrary to fact. Approximately 96 percent of the Foundation’s nearly 16,000 active duty military clients and enumerable additional supporters are in fact practicing Christians by faith. To state otherwise not only slanders the Foundation, but also all of its clients. Further, the Foundation’s largest supporter is the California Council of Churches IMPACT, which is comprised of 5,500 Christian congregations, 21 distinct Christian denominations, and, directly and indirectly, millions of individual Christians.

The “legal letter” came from the same law firm that Weinstein is currently employing in Weinstein v Ammerman.

The stern rebuke from Weinstein’s MRFF is laughable.  Consider the ramifications Read more

Religious Freedom Day, 16 Jan 2010

Updated with President Obama’s proclamation.

Each year since 1993 the President has declared January 16th to be “Religious Freedom Day,” in order to remember the passage of Thomas Jefferson’s 1786 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (see 2009).  President Obama does not appear to have issued his proclamation for tomorrow yet (now available), though the day has been a topic of discussion in varying forums across the internet.

Jefferson’s statute continues to be a strong expression for the value of religious liberty even today.  Though the statute has been discussed in many places and in great depth, there are two important points to take from the statute:  Read more

You Can’t be a Good Christian and a Good Soldier

The “interim CEO” of the Stand Up America Project had much to say about the ability of a religious adherent to be a loyal citizen or member of the military:

There is no doubt that a devout [Christian] must proclaim the exclusivity of [Christ] or he is an apostate. Therefore, he must always be a [Christian] first, and that means he is not only unable, but also forbidden from acting in any other fashion. If he is in our military, he may take orders, and obey, but at some level, when the order runs afoul of [Christianity], he must revert to [Christianity] first.

Except, he didn’t exactly say that.  Scott Winchell railed against Muslims in the long piece, ultimately saying  Read more

Atheist Lawsuit Against US Military Dismissed

Chalker v Gates, the lawsuit which pitted the MRFF and an atheist Soldier against the Department of Defense, has been dismissed.  The case was brought by Michael Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and US Army Specialist Dustin Chalker.  The primary complaint was that Chalker was forced to attend formations at which Christian prayers were given, though Weinstein used the lawsuit as a forum to accuse the military of promoting Christianity.

According to various reports,

US District Judge Kathryn Vratil ruled Thursday that Chalker failed to exhaust all available remedies before filing suit.

Weinstein has said he will appeal the decision.

The ruling that dismissed the lawsuit (pdf) is slightly more complex than the media summary.  The ruling stated:  Read more

1 … 60 61 62 63 64 … 67