Tag Archives: camp pendleton

Atheists Object to Camp Pendleton Cross

Update:  FoxNews reports on the “investigation” of the cross.  The ACLJ has written a letter to Camp Pendleton explaining the appropriateness — and Constitutionality — of allowing the cross to remain.  They, too, highlight the Argonne cross in Arlington mentioned below.  In reference to the Utah trooper crosses mentioned below, the Highway Patrol logo has been stripped from the crosses and a disclaimer has been added in a bid to avoid their court-ordered removal.

It didn’t take long:  When Jason Torpy of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers saw the LA Times report on the Camp Pendleton cross, he was quick to call it

a “wonderful gesture” in remembrance of the fallen Marines, but said its location on public land “makes us feel like the federal government privileges Christianity over non-Christians like us, makes us feel like second-class citizens…”

[T]heir desire to erect a large cross to honor their memory is perfectly acceptable, so long as it is on church land or their own property, not on federal land.

Further, Torpy claims the Marines’ cross is an intentional effort to by the government to afford preference to Christianity:

Military service is being exploited Read more

Homosexual Marine Accused of Sham Marriage for Benefits

Three US Marines at Camp Pendleton stand accused of entering sham marriages to obtain access to financial benefits.  It all started when a homosexual Marine wanted to live with her girlfriend but “couldn’t afford it:”

[US Marine Corporal Ashley] Vice told CNN affiliate KGTV in San Diego that she wanted to live off base with her girlfriend, Jaime Murphy, as a couple. Murphy is a civilian.

But on her salary, she couldn’t afford it.

So she says she found a Marine, Jeremiah Griffin, who agreed to marry her so she could receive the $1,200 per month living stipend the Marine Corps gives to married couples living off base.

Her homosexual partner eventually married a third Marine, Joseph Garner, for the same reason.  Vice has told the press the three will likely face jail time, since they are unable to pay back the funds they are accused of getting fraudulently.

Ultimately, the military’s response has nothing to do with homosexuality; Read more

US Marines Share Faith Together

Each Tuesday morning a group of Marines meets at Camp Pendleton’s Del Mar mess hall to discuss a book chapter applying their faith to their lives.  The informal group is an excellent example of military members simply choosing to meet, encourage and challenge each other, and fellowship together with those of like mind.

The group is made up of all ranks, including a Master Gunnery Sgt and a Colonel.

Master Gunnery Sgt. Isaac T. Black…[said] “Wanting to study something with a spiritual aspect is what brought us together.”

Currently the group is studying the book Read more

DADT Update: Marine Training, June Target, and Military Weddings

Below:

  • Camp Pendleton Marines ask the same DADT questions
  • Obama said to be aiming for repeal in June
  • Navy head of Chaplains says gay marriages permissible in military Chapels

Camp Pendleton Marines recently went through the required DADT training for the upcoming repeal of the policy most often known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”  Despite some people dismissing the concerns of servicemembers Read more

Marine Officer Defends Beach Baptism of Marines

The LA Times blog on the beach baptism of US Marines at Camp Pendleton generated an unusually high amount of vitriol toward religious exercise in the military.  There were also accusations of command influence and coercion.

A recent comment posted at the original blog attempts to rebut those accusations with the first public first-hand account of the event:

As a Marine Officer and the Public Affairs Officer who covered this event I would like to say that this amazing event was completely voluntary. In fact the event started with a hand-full of Marines who approached the chaplain to do it. As others heard about it they all got on board.  Read more

1 2 3 4 5