Tag Archives: Bible

Congress Chides DoD on Response to Frivolous Complaints

A group of Congressmen has become the latest part of the government to take the US military to task for its apparent capitulation to external critics.  In this case, 23 members of the House signed a letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta concerning the removal of the DoD insignia from Holman Bibles, a “scandal” previously discussed.  The Congressmen said the issue was not that the seals were removed, but the fact the action was taken only because Michael Weinstein was bothered by it:

“The problem here is that it appears the decision made by DoD was in response to a manufactured, frivolous complaint,” [Congressman Alan] Nunnelee said.  “The military should not be succumbing to pressure from outside groups to alter longstanding policy.” 

The letter does not demand that permission to use the seals be returned; it is three paragraphs of concern over why it appears the US military keeps “bowing” to Michael Weinstein:  Read more

Congressmen Call Air Force Hostile to Religion Again

Updated with BrigGen Lee quote on Michael Weinstein.

Sixty-six members of Congress called on Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to investigate the US Air Force for an environment of “hostility towards religious freedom” — the fourth time in recent months they’ve made such an accusation.

The Congressional letter (PDF) essentially said that Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz’s September policy letter had created a “chilling effect” on religious freedom as Airmen attempted to comply with his guidance:

The decisions that have been made in reliance upon this policy go beyond what is required by the US Constitution.  The First Amendment prohibits the establishment of religion; however, the mere discussion of religion or reference to God certainly does not rise to that level.

The Congressmen said the Air Force had “capitulated” to organizations Read more

Pentagon to Host Gay Pride Event

Tomorrow the Pentagon will host the US military’s first-ever “gay pride” celebration.

The event will include speakers who will address the “value of gay service.”

The official poster was “proudly” distributed to a homosexual advocacy site by Lt Col Todd Breasseale of Public Affairs.

The military apparently had to be very careful in its wording of the event, because the “T” in LGBT, transgenders, are still prohibited from active duty military service, though it seems transgender civilians will be part of the “pride.”

Retired Chaplain (COL) Ron Crews of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty condemned the celebration and noted the interesting timing of the original announcement, coming just a day after the Pentagon publicized the fact it would no longer permit its service symbols to be used on military themed Bibles.

Presumably, in a spirit of equality, next month the US military will Read more

Michael Weinstein Targets Evangelicals in Fishing for Bibles, Part 2

As predicted last November, Michael Weinstein went fishing for controversy over military-themed Bibles and finally managed to manufacture a scandal out of the nearly decade-old Holman series of military-themed Bibles carrying official military service seals.

But what that led to is even more interesting, for Weinstein may have let slip (again) his real target in his “war” against religious freedom in the US military.

For its part, the military says the decision to withdraw permission for Holman to use the seals was administrative housekeeping.  Weinstein’s research assistant Chris Rodda cried malarkey, saying the military never would have revisited the permission if not for the MRFF inquiries.

As it has in the past, the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, representing 2,000 military chaplains, is calling on Congress to investigate why the military is so keen on bowing to pressure from the MRFF.

The end result is the Holman Bibles can be Read more

Here I am, Lord: The Bible as Literature and the US Air Force

A US Army article previously described an effort to help the Afghans by “turning swords into plowshares,” a potentially inadvertent reference to Isaiah 2:4.  While the text of the Bible is not as well-known as it may have once been, it is interesting to see where the American culture makes (even unknowing) Biblical references.

The US Air Force leadership did it recently, too, in their annual Memorial Day message.  Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen Norton Schwartz wrote:  Read more

History of the Bible in the US Military

A New York museum is hosting a collection of US military Bibles dating from the mid 1800s to modern times.

The exhibit showcases three dozen copies of Scriptures published for members of the U.S. Armed Forces from the Civil War onward, from leather-bound, 19th-century copies to contemporary Bibles clothed in camouflage.

The books are on loan from Read more

FRC Sues Navy over Bible Ban Records

The Family Research Council has joined with Judicial Watch in filing a lawsuit against the US Navy seeking access to documentation over the Walter Reed policy that “banned” the Bible.

The FOIA lawsuit…seeks access to records concerning a policy announced in a September 14, 2011, memo issued by the Commander of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center banning the use and/or distribution of Bibles and other religious items during visits with wounded, ill or injured patients.

The Navy has reportedly failed to respond to the FRC Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request within the time required by law.  Walter Reed rescinded the policy as insufficiently reviewed after intense media coverage.

Atheist Jason Torpy Equates Himself with Abolitionists

Jason Torpy, the one-man Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, is an atheist and former Army officer.  While his MAAF is ostensibly a “community support network,” he recently revealed the true motivation behind his ideology.

In a recent display of internet frustration, Torpy took fellow atheists to task for not banding together and being “anti-” enough.  The context was a comment that people don’t join groups for things they don’t believe in, spoken by Neil deGrasse Tyson, a self-described agnostic (who says he is “often claimed by atheists”):

Do non-golf players gather and strategize? Do non-skiers…come together and talk about the fact that they don’t ski? I can’t do that. I can’t gather around and talk about how much everybody in the room doesn’t believe in God.

This is the same point raised by many people  Read more

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