FoxNews reported that the US embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, raised a rainbow flag immediately below Old Glory.
As many know, the rainbow was a symbol of God’s promise to man that He would not again destroy the earth by flood — something He did after the world’s sin and debauchery brought about its destruction by water. So the rainbow flag is an excellent reminder of God’s promise.
Of course, that’s not what the embassy meant Read more
SrA Kayla Dale talks with other participants in the gay pride parade, June 7, 2014, in Seoul, Republic of Korea. (USAF photo, SSgt Jake Barreiro)
The 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs ran an interesting human interest story on Senior Airman Kayla Dale, describing how she escaped the “dark realities of inner-city Chicago” to become an Air Force Airman.
Perhaps as a result of the June celebration of “LGBT pride” in the DoD, the article highlights sexuality, noting she is a “double minority” as an “African-American lesbian.” The article even quotes her Aunt — and takes the time to point out that she, too, is a lesbian.
More interesting, however, is that Dale notes her personal conflict between religious belief and sexuality: Read more
One of 512 “lunar Bibles” — tiny, but complete, microform King James Bibles — was recently auctioned for $75,000: Read more
The Rev Franklin Graham had a firm message for pastors at the 2014 Watchmen on the Wall National Briefing: “God hates cowards.”
“God hates cowards. And the cowards that the Lord is referring to are the men and women who know the truth but refuse to speak it…”
“We have a responsibility to speak on the moral issues. Abortion, homosexuality, these are moral issues. This is a free country, you can do what you want to do but I want you to know it’s a sin against God. This is a sin,” said Graham.
In an interesting comparison, the Christian Post noted Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty was recently harangued for…quoting the Bible during a sermon. Quoting a portion of his remarks [emphasis added]: Read more
Christianity Today’s Leadership Journal has an interesting article from US Army Chaplain (Capt) Tim Crawley, probably one of the few chaplains to attend and complete a few Special Forces courses:
After my chaplaincy training, I was given the opportunity to attend the Army’s Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS). Upon successfully completing selection, I was invited to attend the Special Forces Qualification Course, the arduous “Q Course,” approximately 18 months of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion.
Chaplain Crawley writes how the education on Unconventional Warfare had an “uncanny application to ministry leadership.”
His 7-phase application is an interesting Read more
Mikey Weinstein’s confused take on the Air Force’s policy: It’s like an umbrella in a tsunami…
McClatchy asked the question no other media outlet has in the past few weeks: What ever became of the “offsite” Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said she was convening?
Late last month, James and Welsh convened a “Religious Freedom Focus Day” conference of senior chaplains and legal and manpower officials to discuss the policy. An Air Force spokeswoman, Rose Richeson, declined to make the results of the April 28 meeting public, saying it would be “too premature to provide an interview.”
It would seem, though, someone may have heard what occurred:
Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council…said that based on what he’d heard from people at the meeting he expected the Air Force to “make a policy change shortly.”
The article says Perkins’ statement “alarms supporters of the policy,” and cites exactly one person: Michael “Mikey” Weinstein. The policy 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